Ever wished you could drive a Formula 1 car for a few laps at least once in your life? I mean, that Playseat Simulator is nice and all, but it’s a long ways off from the real deal. If you have cash to spare, you can do better: you can drive one to work, to the grocery, to the neighborhood bar and anywhere else you please with the BAC Mono, a street-legal sports car that borrows liberally from F1 machines.
With its low profile, lightweight construction and high-performance design, it’s about as close as a road car can get to the world’s fastest circuit racers. Packing all the latest racing tech government road regulations will allow, it will perform like one, too, so you can turn highways, freeways and the local neighborhood streets into your own personal race course.
The BAC Mono is a single-seater sports car with a central driving position just like a proper racer. Seat, pedal reach and driving position are fitted according to each customer in order to maximize comfort and performance. Body is decked in a high-strength carbon fiber composite surrounding a steel safety cell that features an FIA-compliant rollover structure and a front carbon crashbox.
A longitudinally-mounted 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine powers the vehicle, putting out 280bhp and 280NM of torque. On the road, that translates to a top speed of 170 mph and a 0 to 60 time of 2.8 seconds. Other features include an F3 spec 6-speed sequential gearbox, a fully-adjustable pushrod suspension, 295mm ventilated disc brakes, and Kumho tires made from a specially-developed rubber compound.
Only 35 BAC Monos will go out this year, with another 50 slated for 2012. All of them, though, are already spoken for, so you’ll have to join the 2013 batch if you want one. Price is £79,950 (around $100,000).
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