BAC Mono is an enthusiast-built, single-seater Veyron teaser

See that car in the pictures? It's the BAC Mono, and pound for pound, it's more powerful than a Bugatti piggin' Veyron. Pound for pound, it's also cheaper by a good £1.5m or so -- primarily because it was designed by Cheshire-born car enthusiasts Neill and Ian Briggs. In a shed.

We're lying about the shed bit -- the BAC Mono isn't your average DIY botch job. The single-seater's gorgeous aerodynamic design was optimised by researchers at Stuttgart University, who used fancy computational fluid dynamics software to improve the efficiency with which the Mono slices through the air.

The Mono's performance potential is boosted by lightweight carbon-fibre bodywork that envelops a steel driver safety cell with an FIA-compliant roll-over protection system. The whole lot is driven by a 280bhp, 2.3-litre Cosworth engine paired with a Formula 3-spec, electronically controlled, paddle-shift, six-speed sequential Hewland transmission.

The low-weight (just 540kg), high-power combination results in an awesome 520bhp per tonne -- 19 more bhp/tonne than a Veyron. It'll hang with Bugatti's finest in the 0-60mph sprint, reaching that milestone in 2.8 seconds. The Veyron will obliterate it in the long run, but the Mono's 6.7-second 0-100mph time and 170mph top speed show it's no slouch.

We're a little less clear on how well the car will handle, but we imagine it'll be entertaining to say the least, thanks to an optimum weight distribution of 48 per cent at the front and 52 per cent at the rear, as well as street-legal track tyres specially developed by Kumho. It also packs twin-wishbone pushrod suspension, which places the springs and dampers inboard, and out of the air stream to reduce resistance. 

The BAC Mono's racing seat, which can be customisised to fit individual drivers, is fixed in place so as not to upset the car's weight distribution. Shorter or taller drivers can be accommodated, however, thanks to the adjustable steering column and pedal box.

BAC plans to build the Mono on a first-come, first-served basis with its production facility able to manufacture between 50 and 100 examples every year. If you fancy one for yourself (and why wouldn't you?) the BAC Mono is available via bac-mono.com for £79,950.