BAC Bringing New Car to Goodwood Festival of Speed
Briggs Automotive Company, better known as BAC, doesn’t make a lot of announcements, but that’s not unheard of in the weird world of British sports car manufacturers that focus solely on low-volume, high-performance models.
When BAC launched the Mono in 2011, reviewers praised the car for delivering a unique driving experience and merging track-car dynamics with on-road legality. It became an overnight automotive celebrity, spending the next few years starring on programs like Top Gear, in video games, or on popular auto-themed YouTube channels. A decade later, little buzz surrounds the company.
Fortunately, BAC says it will bring forth another vehicle in 2019.
While yours truly doesn’t see the point of open-air cockpits, as motorcycles provide superior thrills per dollar, BAC’s Mono is infamous for melting faces and would give any two-wheeled contraption what-for on a racetrack. Its Ford-sourced, Cosworth-tuned 2.5-liter engine may only produce 305 horsepower, but the car itself tips the scales at a very svelte 1,190 pounds — resulting in a 0-to-60 time frequently quoted at well below 3 seconds.
The follow-up will undoubtedly be faster, but it looks like BAC won’t be making any grand changes to the design. Based on the brief video teaser, the Mono’s successor will be another open-air design. It isn’t known if this will be an entirely new model or simply a hotter variant of the existing Mono — BAC’s announcement leaned heavily on hype phrases. While it did say the car will be faster and more powerful than its predecessor, the rest was all about how the company plans “to take it to the next level.”
That could mean a lot of things, but we know that the company has been dabbling with graphene. Last year, BAC claimed the material could be utilized like (and probably with) carbon fiber to help reduce the weight of future vehicles. While the company has already tested the material in limited quantities on the Mono, it believes it can expand its use to cut weight by around 20 percent without sacrificing strength.
The manufacturer says an official debut of the new car will take place at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on July 4th.
[Images: Briggs Automotive Company]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Arguably, this car is just as practical as a full-sized pickup or SUV, and much better on gas. At least 90% of the vehicles on the road are only transporting the driver. All that extra tonnage is entirely wasted.