BAC Mono R

The Mono was already one of the fastest road cars we've ever driven on track. Now it's just got faster still with the 90 per cent new, limited-edition R

- STEVE SUTCLIFFE

THE BAC MONO IS AN EXQUISITE T creation, designed by the Briggs brothers, lan and Neill from Liverpool, purely for the purpose of maximum driver engagement. This makes it a car many of us at Evo are rather fond of, not least because of what it can do but also because of what it stands for.

To our knowledge, it's still the only single-seat road car that's ever been made in regular production numbers, i.e. not by some nutcase who's managed to road legalise a Formula 3000 car as a one-off. As a result, and despite it being over a decade old now, the Mono is still arguably the most focused road car money can buy.

It's also very, very quick. In simple terms it's the fastest car we've ever timed around Anglesey Circuit - by over two seconds - our own Dickie Meaden setting a somewhat surreal time of 1:07.7 in the 2.5-liter version in 2016 (see issue 229 or visit youtube.com/evo). The next fastest road car we've timed around the coastal circuit is the near 1000 horsepower, four-wheel drive, hybrid-propelled Ferrari SF90 Assetto Fiorano, which clocked a 1:10.0 lap just recently.

Not even a McLaren P1 GTR on slicks has got within a second of the Mono's time, so in road car terms it really is the king of the hill when it comes to pure track speed. You'd need nothing less than a Formula 3 car to beat it around a circuit like Anglesey. And now BAC has made a new version- the Mono R - which, according to its chief designer lan Briggs, is 'over 90 per cent new' in its thinking and construction and is lighter, more powerful, and even quicker than its predecessor.