The Snake and the Stallion
2002 television film directed by Richard Symons
The Snake and the Stallion, also known as Cobra Ferrari Wars, is a film that documents the rivalry between Texas chicken farmer turned American car producer Carroll Shelby and the Italian automotive entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari.
Release
The Snake and the Stallion aired on the BBC on Monday 17 June 2002 and was subsequently released on DVD in 2005. A remastered collector's edition of the film was released on DVD in 2008.
Synopsis
Richard Symons's documentary recounts the origins and rise to racing history of the AC Cobra, the car requested by Carroll Shelby. The film details the history of the Cobra and Carroll Shelby's racing career from its humble beginnings to the 1959 victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Roy Salvadori at the wheel of an Aston Martin DBR1. The story goes on to explain Shelby's motivation to take on the might of Ferrari with the help of Ford and AC of England (who were then manufacturing invalid carriages as well as sports cars) and why Carroll Shelby had to retire from racing.
Carroll Shelby was closely involved in the making of the documentary, stating "I spent a whole lot of time with Richard on this and he’s really nailed it. Got all the right people, from Dan Gurney to Lee Iacocca. It’s a wonderful story and I’ve never seen anybody tell it better. I’m very proud to have been part of it".
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7764984. The first chronological checks are 2002, 2005, 2008 and 1959.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Snake and the Stallion” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.