Ford Mustang Cobra R

Asceticism is a religious tradition and the Cobra R is its automotive sacrament.

The formula was the same on each of the three occasions: take the SVT Cobra, remove everything that comforts a human being, add whatever the rules permitted, build a strictly limited number, and sell them only to people who could produce evidence of intent to race. No radio. No air conditioning. No rear seat. In 1995, no sound insulation to speak of and a 5.8-litre pushrod V8. In 2000, a 5.4-litre four-cam engine, a rear wing tall enough to require its own weather forecast, and 385 horsepower.

One hundred and seven were built in 1993. Two hundred and fifty in 1995. Three hundred in 2000. In each case demand exceeded supply by an amount that made the licence requirement essentially a formality that was widely ignored, and a substantial proportion went directly into climate-controlled storage, which is the exact opposite of the stated purpose and entirely predictable.

The Ophidiary finds this deeply ophidian. Snakes shed everything they do not need with a regularity that borders on contempt — the skin, the meal, the territory. A snake carries no possessions. Neither does a Cobra R, and both of them are more frightening for it.