BAC Mono 'widebody'

Too powerfully built for the BAC Mono? New chassis has space to flex your guns

Last year BAC updated its Mono with space for a bigger 305hp 2.5-litre engine, replacing the original 2.3. Now it's doing the same for the driver, a revised chassis design broadening the steel spaceframed safety cell a tad. In total there's an additional 56mm of breathing space, 25mm each side from the frame and 3mm from new, thinner side panels.

BAC is tactful in its explanation for the updates, saying "the changes have come about thanks to BAC's close relationship and ongoing communication with its customers" and not because the customers for £100K track toys aren't quite as minimally proportioned as the Mono. Honest.

Given power to weight based around the Mono's 580kg mass has always been a key selling point, does accommodating the larger driver compromise the previously uncompromising vision for the car? BAC says no, at least as far as the car's vital statistics are concerned. Exterior dimensions and performance are unaffected, meaning 0-60 in under three seconds, 170mph flat out and potential hero status if you've got the necessaries to punt it up Lord March's driveway faster than anything else. See here for what that involves...

"The changes will widen the appeal of the Mono, particularly as we expand into new markets such as America and the Far East," says co-founder Ian Briggs in the official press release. Stop sniggering at the back...

The new chassis will come on stream this spring. If you want one sooner than that, new or used, best lay off the pies.

Search for BAC Monos in the PH classifieds here