Yes, it's still another nine months until the season of giving (and receiving!), and another year on top of that until the Mono might come our way, but consider the BAC Mono at the top of our lists as of today. Offered by Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) the Mono is a single-seater, 280-horsepower formula-esque car for the street. And it's being built.
Like the KTM X-Bow, Lotus 2-11, and Ariel Atom, it's a variation on the theme of lightweight, moderately powerful track cars offering stellar performance for a fraction of the cost of the typical supercar. Unlike its forebears, and more like the very expensive (and somewhat quicker) Caparo T1, the Mono draws its inspiration from the world of single-seater formula cars--and if the actual item lives up to the specs, it delivers the goods, too.
BAC says the Mono's mid-mounted 280 horsepower inline four-cylinder will send the car to 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds, hit 170 mph top speed, and do it all for £66,625--about $108,000. That's still pricey--beyond Nissan GT-R territory and into Corvette ZR-1 range--but it's sure to offer lateral acceleration that will make you forget all about 200-mph top speed dreams.
The Mono also packs a Hewland FTR six-speed sequential gearbox with semi-auto paddle shift, AP Racing calipers with 295-mm drilled and ventilated discs, Sachs Racing dampers, a twin-wishbone pushrod suspension with adjustable anti-roll bars, and a carbon composite FIA compliant safety cell.
Best of all, for those intimate with the consumable nature of tires during track sessions, the Mono runs not on giant 20-inch, 300+ mm meats, but on 17-inch, 205/40 front and 245/40 rear tires--big enough to produce plenty of grip for its sub-1,200-pound weight, but small enough to cut the budget necessary to keep the Mono in grippy rubber year-round.
Right now the U.K.-based BAC is only planning on British sales, but is considering export should sufficient interest materialize. If export happens, it could be as soon as the end of 2012.
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