Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) Limited is a British car manufacturer that created Mono, a road-legal sports car with only one seat. BAC is based in the city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Mono cars are exported to 47 countries.

Background

Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) was founded by brothers Neill (Director of Product Development) and Ian Briggs (design director) in 2009. The Briggs brothers consulted for car brands including Mercedes,

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...

and

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

on design and engineering projects, until they decided to expand their creative potential with a product from scratch. The result was the BAC Mono, a lightweight, single-seater, open-top, road-legal sports car. The first BAC Mono was produced in 2011 and made its inaugural public appearance at the Retro Classics show in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, Germany.

BAC Mono

The first iteration of the BAC Mono was originally powered by a

Ford Duratec Ford Duratec engine is a line of engines used by Ford of Europe and United States for the company's range of gasoline-powered I3, I4, I5 and V6 passenger car engines. The first Duratec engine was co-designed by Ford and Porsche and introduced ...

2.3-litre four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine, heavily modified by

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for auto racing, automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotiv ...

, to produce at 7,700 rpm. It is mounted longitudinally and mated to an electronically controlled, paddle-shift, six-speed sequential

Hewland Hewland is a British engineering company, founded in 1957 by Mike Hewland, which specialises in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland currently employ 130 people at their Maidenhead facility and have diversified into a variety of markets being particul ...

transmission with a limited-slip differential. The Mono weighs , resulting in a

power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measurement ...

of 518 bhp per tonne. It delivered performance figures of in 2.8 seconds and a top speed of . BAC aimed for an equal weight distribution, 48/52 front/rear, and as low of a centre of gravity as possible when designing the Mono. The car was constructed in carbon fibre with a tubular steel driver safety cell, complete with an FIA-compliant rollover protection system - similar in concept to a DTM race car. The rose-jointed, aero-profiled pushrod suspension featured adjustable dampers that can be altered based on driving on either the road or track. The Mono's design is said to be inspired by a science fiction aesthetic and also the robot in Bjork's music video for the song "

All Is Full of Love "All Is Full of Love" is a song by Icelandic musician Björk from her third studio album, ''Homogenic'' (1997). The lyrics were inspired by love in spring and Ragnarök of Norse mythology. Björk's original version is a trip hop ballad with Soul ...

". In 2015, the Cosworth engine was replaced by a 2.5-litre

Mountune Racing Mountune Racing is a specialist automotive engineering company. It was formed in 1980 in Maldon, Essex by David Mountain to provide Mini race engines. In the late 1980s, Mountune started preparing Cosworth YB engines for numerous auto racing, mo ...

unit developing at 8,000 rpm. There were a number of further improvements under the skin to optimise performance, while wider chassis allowed for more room for the driver in the cockpit. The 2015 model year BAC Mono weighed 580 kg, resulting in a power-to-weight ratio of 525 bhp per tonne.

Performance achievements

* Second-fastest ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...

'' Power Lap of all time (fastest overall on road-legal tyres): 1 minute, 14.3 seconds (July 2013) * Production car lap record of 1:54.00 at the

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtai ...

* Autocar’s Fastest rear-wheel-drive car in the world accelerating from 0-60mph in 2018: 2.7 seconds * Production car lap record of 36.5 seconds at the

Roskilde Ring Roskilde Ring was a Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing Race track, circuit in Roskilde, Denmark. It hosted the Danish Grand Prix between 1960 and 1962, with non-championship Formula One races in the last two years which were won by Stirling Mo ...

(Denmark) * Production car lap record at the

Anglesey Circuit The Anglesey Circuit () is a motor racing circuit located in Ty Croes, Anglesey, Wales. It plays host to a variety of motorsport events including car racing, motorcycle racing, car sprints, stage rallies and drifting. It opened as a fully li ...

by ''evo'' magazine: 1:07.70 (2016, fastest car ever tested by the magazine) * Production car lap record at

Circuit Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, ...

, Belgium (October 2017, 1:37.10) *

Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hillclimbing, hillclimb and other events, held in Goodwood House, West Sussex, in late June or early July. Th ...

2018 Supercar Shootout Champions (July 2018, 49.13 seconds – fastest ever Supercar Shootout time) * Production car lap record at

Sepang International Circuit Sepang International Circuit () (known as Petronas Sepang International Circuit for commercial reasons) is a motorsport race track in Sepang District, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located approximately south of Kuala Lumpur, close to Ku ...

, Malaysia (December 2018, 2:14.617) * Production car lap record at Autodromo Querétaro, Mexico (June 2019) * Production car lap record at

Autodromo di Modena Autodromo di Modena (or Aerautodromo di Modena) was a race track on the edge of Modena in Italy. The track had a length of . It was opened in 1950 and the circuit was crossed by an airstrip of about in length which was used by the local flying clu ...

, Italy (September 2019) * Production car lap record at the 3.7 km

Anneau du Rhin The Anneau du Rhin is a racing circuit situated near Biltzheim, France, about north of Mulhouse. It is used for racing and club sport events, track days and presentations. History The original circuit was planned and built in 1996 by Marc R ...

circuit, France (August 2020) * Production car lap record for Mono R at

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Austria, Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from t ...

, Austria (October 2021) * Mono R: The fastest car on the ''evo'' Leaderboard at Anglesey Circuit, Wales (October 2022)

Awards

* '' GQ'' Track Day Car of the Year 2012 *''Top Gear'' Stig's Car of the Year 2011 *Steve Sutcliffe's "Car of the Year" *Xcar Best Drive 2012–2013" Editor's Choice *Northern Automotive Alliance Innovation Company of the Year 2012 *Merseyside Innovation Award Overall Winner 2014 *

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

Fast Track 100 Ones to Watch 2015 *Northern Automotive Alliance (NAA) Awards 2016: International Trade and Logistics Excellence *

Department for International Trade The Department for International Trade (DIT) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom Government, from July 2016 to February 2023. It was responsible for stri ...

Export Champions – North West 2017, 2018 *TopGear Magazine Best in the World for Selfish Sundays (2017) *TopGear Magazine Top 50 Cars of All Time (300th edition, 2017) *Northern Automotive Alliance (NAA) Awards 2017 – People & Skills Excellence *Northern Automotive Alliance (NAA) Awards 2018 – Marketing Excellence *Autocar Magazine review for BAC Mono : '4.5 Stars' – December 2018 *

CAR Magazine ''Car'' is a British automobile, automotive enthusiast magazine published monthly by Bauer Media Group, Bauer Consumer Media. International editions are published or licensed by Bauer Automotive in South Korea (since March 2016), Brazil, China ...

review: '5 Stars' for BAC Mono– February 2019 *Northern Automotive Alliance (NAA) Awards 2019 *''Top Gear'' review: 9/10 for BAC Mono R- July 2022 *Northern Automotive Alliance (NAA) Awards 2022 – International Trade Award *''evo'' (magazine) BAC Mono R 2022 review: '5 Stars' - October 2022 *Northern Automotive Alliance (NAA) Awards 2023 – Company of the year Award & International Trade Award

BAC Mono R

On 4 July 2019, BAC launched the limited-edition BAC Mono R at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Mono R is a higher-performance, lighter and more advanced new generation of the original BAC Mono. The Mono R is more powerful and 25 kg lighter than the standard Mono, at and 555 kg which equates to a power-to-weight ratio of .

Design

Although still resembling the Mono, the R has had all surfaces designed from scratch with 44 bespoke carbon parts restyled to give the car a more aggressive, organic, and futuristic stance. The new look of Mono R is defined by the shark nose front. The main beam LED headlights centrally mounted on the nose reduce the frontal area and contributes to a more minimalist appearance. The Mono R's sleeker and tighter appearance has been achieved by reductions in visible mass across the full body; there has also been a 20 mm reduction in overall height and a 25 mm increase in length over the standard Mono.

Power

The Mono R's 2.5-litre, four-cylinder engine, co-developed with long-standing engine partner Mountune, has power increased by 38 bhp over the Mono to deliver . Starting with the

Ford Duratec engine Ford Duratec engine is a line of engines used by Ford of Europe and United States for the company's range of gasoline-powered I3, I4, I5 and V6 passenger car engines. The first Duratec engine was co-designed by Ford and Porsche and introduced ...

, BAC and Mountune increased the cylinder bore size and reduced the new billet crankshaft stroke to optimize power and torque delivery and increased the redline from 7,800 rpm to 8,800 rpm. The new Formula-inspired ram-air inlet system provides pressurized air into an all-new throttle body and cylinder head system to further increase power, plus a higher-spec, drive-by-wire motor allows for quicker throttle response. As a result, the bespoke Mountune engine now offers a specific output of .

Innovation

Mono R is the first production car in the world fully incorporating the use of

graphene Graphene () is a carbon allotrope consisting of a Single-layer materials, single layer of atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, honeycomb planar nanostructure. The name "graphene" is derived from "graphite" and the suffix -ene, indicating ...

-enhanced carbon fibre in every body panel. Using the revolutionary material enhances the structural properties of the fibre to make panels stronger and lighter, increasing toughness and improving thermal properties. The company's latest world first came as a result of a successful APC-funded Research & Development project into the production-readiness of graphene. The technology is now in full series production. In 2022, the company announced a feasibility study into the use of hydrogen in powering the Mono, alongside clean tech company Viritech. The e-Mono study integrated a fuel cell powertrain into an existing Mono chassis, whilst minimising added weight. This resulted in the e-Mono completing a simulated lap of

Silverstone Circuit Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 British Grand ...

two seconds faster than the combustion-engined Mono R.

Lightweight technology

BAC conducts research and development into lightweight automotive technology, especially for the use of

in the car body. Combining graphene within carbon fibre enhances the structural properties of carbon to result in fewer sheets being needed to meet functional performance targets. With BAC Mono and Mono R panels, the addition of graphene ensured panels required two sheets of carbon fibre, rather than three. A panel set that weighed 41 kg before the use of graphene weighed 32 kg after use of graphene. In 2020, BAC was awarded UK Government funding to undertake its latest nano element R&D project, exploring the use of

niobium Niobium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Nb (formerly columbium, Cb) and atomic number 41. It is a light grey, crystalline, and Ductility, ductile transition metal. Pure niobium has a Mohs scale of mineral hardness, Mohs h ...

in the structure of BAC Mono. The project is sponsored by CBMM, a manufacturer of niobium products.

Mono Owners' Club

BAC founded the Mono Owners' Club in 2018.

References

{{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in Liverpool Car manufacturers of the United Kingdom Privately held companies of the United Kingdom Sports car manufacturers Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles Roadsters Cars introduced in 2011 British companies established in 2009 Manufacturing companies established in 2009 BAC Mono BAC Mono