“ The No.81 car built, and affectionately called the Pink Panther. ”
Full engine & gearbox re-build, with original booklets.

Background
“Like a Porsche GT3, you strive to live in the last few hundred rpm where the car sings and becomes its most violent. Then you pull the carbon paddle and the pneumatic six-speed Hewland gearbox – lifted straight out of an F3 car – gives you another cog and you go again.

It’s a truly addictive experience and an assault on the senses. Screw those new fancy 4D cinemas, if you want a true 4D experience, save money on the popcorn and drive one of these. Driving can’t get any more four-dimensional as you’re continuously buzzed with vibration, stimulated sensorily as compressed air is fired into your earholes and your eyes try to keep the local scenery in focus as things splat against your face at silly miles an hour.”

So said Top Gear when it reviewed the BAC Mono.

The Briggs Automotive Company – BAC – was founded by brothers Ian and Neill Briggs in 2009. Having spent many years providing design and engineering consultancy expertise to companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Bentley, and Ford, the pair threw caution to the wind and decided to branch out on their own.

Their first car was the Mono; designed from a blank sheet of paper and using their years of experience and knowledge, this road-legal, single-seat, open-top, high-tech, pared-down machine first hit the road in 2011.

The exterior body panels are all made of carbon fibre, and while the tub isn’t, it’s still strong enough to pass the rollover tests the FIA imposed on Formula 1 cars in 2009 while being considerably cheaper to repair in the event of an off.

The Mono evolved over the years, starting life with a 2.3-litre Cosworth-fettled engine and ending it, after just 128 had been built, with a 2.5-litre Mountune power unit that churned out a reliable 305bhp.

And given the Mono weighs just 580kgs, 305bhp is sufficient to give it a power-to-weight ratio of 525 bhp per tonne, which led Pistonheads to describe it as “cataclysmically rapid”.

Those horses are channelled to the rear wheels via a six-speed Hewland sequential gearbox and an AP Racing clutch, with the gears being selected via a pneumatic semi-automatic closed-loop system that’s operated by steering wheel-mounted paddles.

Enough gobbledegook; what does it feel like? Second gear will take you to nigh-on motorway speeds, with sixth being geared for 160mph.

The differential is a Powerflow limited-slip jobbie of course, the driveshafts are made by GKN to BAC’s specification, and this example has traction and launch control.

It is essentially a Formula 3 drivetrain for the road.

Nigh-on perfect weight distribution of 48:52 front-to-rear is aided by an adjustable set-up that more closely mimics that of a race car than something you would commute it.

It also has just 100mm of ground clearance at the front and 110mm at the rear, yet contemporary reports describe it as having a better ride than a Lotus Elise.

“But the best thing about the Mono, what will send you into apoplexy if you are ever lucky enough to drive one, is the way it goes round corners. And the way it stops. And how much grip it can develop near the limit. And - biggest surprise of all - the way in which it so gradually gives up that grip if and when you push it too far.” So wrote Pistonheads when it tested one.

After car no 64 had left the factory, models were appended with a ‘W’, which indicated a reconfigured chassis for a little more internal space, opening up the market to normal-shaped folk.

Overview
Number 81 in the series and affectionately known as The Pink Panther, this Mono W has been in the Debbie’s care since 2021, joining an Ultima GTR, which she laughingly refers to as her “winter car!”

But then Debbie has a long history of driving quick vehicles; an ex-motorcycle instructor, previous four-wheeled transport has included a Brooke 250 RR and an Edge Devil. and it’s worth Googling the registration number of ‘B5 MNO’ to appreciate just how popular they both are; the Internet can be a strange place at times but it’s heartening to see so many people celebrating this unique sportscar and its owner.

She’s the second keeper and has invested around £35,000 in keeping it in tip-top condition – but that sum does include a full engine and gearbox rebuild plus a new rear wheel and some cosmetic repairs to the bodywork : Fear not though, because it went back to the manufacturer for this work, as they handed over a bill for £8,000,on top of engine and gearbox rebuild /overhaul costs.

Mind you, given so much of the bodywork is exposed carbonfibre the final bill probably shouldn’t come as a surprise, and when you factor in the Mono W’s 18,000 miles, a great deal of which was run up during the three European tours she’s undertaken in it – plus the odd track day and domestic road trip – we can only applaud her for maintaining it as faithfully as it has treated her.

William Murfitt’s YouTube channel has three videos about her, including two on this very car. The links are:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j85FQD-Gh6o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ICWETdHfNc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5HmMr-BxD8.

Exterior
BAC Mono was the first company in the world to develop hybrid carbon-composite wheels. Now well-proven after a decade in use, they reduce unsprung weight to the benefit of steering, handling, braking, and overall performance.

How light are they? Made by Dymag, the 7.5-inch wide front wheels weigh 5.7kgs apiece and the nine-inch wide rears only a little more at an even six kilograms.

Mind you, they should be light because each one costs £3,600 and comes with its own instruction manual.

(The titanium wheel bolts also weigh just 30.2gms, which saves another 212.5gms per wheel.)

And the fact we can write four paragraphs about the wheels before we even begin to describe their condition tells you everything you need to know about owning and driving a BAC Mono W.

An obsession doesn’t begin to cover it.

Hell, it’s even got a titanium towing eye, which was fitted in January 2024 at a cost of £156.12.

And yet, for all its track focus, this is very far from being a well-worn competition car; with slick Hot Pink paintwork, satin black carbonfibre, and a suite of carefully curated decals, this is a car you could rock up in at your local classic car show and drive away with a bootful[2] of prizes, including People’s Choice.

Even the wheels are impressively free of scuffs and scrapes, which is quite a feat given how low-profile the tyres are; the Mono W might have been used as the engineers intended but it’s been looked after as they wanted too.

The design of the wheels allows passersby to enjoy the sight of a road-going car equipped with carbon ceramic brake discs, an exotic feature that was a £30,000 option when the car was new. Still, when you’re as obsessive as the

[2] Yes, we know it doesn’t have a boot but there is a small frunk.

average BAC Mono owner apparently is, saving one kilogram per comer, as well as delivering the sort of braking power that can slow the Earth’s rotation, makes them worth every penny.

This Mono W is also fitted with a brake bias control, so you can dial the brakes in to suit the conditions at each circuit.

As for the tyres, they’re all Kumho Ecsta V700 with 205/40R17 on the front and 245/70R17 on the rear. Well-worn, while they are legal, we imagine the winning bidder will want to fit a new set to make the most of the coming season.

As for flaws, the front end has a few stonechips and the paint protection film (PPF) is failing in places, most notably under the fuel filler cap. The carbonfibre trim has the odd scratch too, with the one on the nearside airbox being quite conspicuous. The front splitter also has minor damage to its offside.

View car and current price bid HERE