Elford began his motorsport career as a co-driver before purchasing a Mini to rally as a privateer in 1961. After limited success he switched to a factory-sponsored DKW Junior in 1962, then returned to Triumph with TR4s the following year before joining Ford for three years of successful competition in Ford Cortinas. In 1967 Elford was named European Rally Champion driving a works Porsche 911S. That season he also won the first-ever Rallycross event, held on 4 February 1967 at Lydden Circuit, and took victory in the 84-hour Marathon de la Route at the Nürburgring — driving the longest night sections of the full 28-kilometre combined circuit in rain and fog in a Porsche 911 fitted with a Sportomatic transmission.
The start of 1968 saw one of the most compressed sequences of victories in motorsport history. Elford won the Rally Monte Carlo in a Porsche 911S, then, only a week later, co-drove a Porsche 907 to overall victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona — Porsche's first ever outright win in a 24-hour race. Later that year he won the Targa Florio in a come-from-behind drive after losing eighteen minutes on the opening lap to a tyre failure.
Elford became closely associated with Porsche's assault on the World Sportscar Championship, racing against the JWA Gulf team in Martini Racing colours. In a Porsche 917LH he was clocked at over 380 km/h in practice for the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans. He won the 1971 12 Hours of Sebring in a Porsche 917K. At the Nürburgring he won a total of six major races — a record beaten only by Rudolf Caracciola and Stirling Moss.
Elford set lap records at a remarkable array of circuits, including the Targa Florio, Nürburgring, Daytona, Sebring, Norisring, Monza, Buenos Aires, Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca, Riverside, and Le Mans. He drove not only for Porsche but over his career also competed for Ford, Triumph, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Chaparral, Shadow, Cooper, Lola, Chevron, McLaren, and Subaru.
During the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans, on seeing a burning Ferrari Daytona ahead of him, Elford stopped mid-race to assist the driver. The cockpit was empty — the driver had already escaped — but Elford spotted the wreck of a Lola in the trees and found that Jo Bonnier had been killed. His act of stopping, captured on camera, led French President Georges Pompidou to name Elford a Chevalier of the National Order of Merit.
Elford participated in 13 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, scoring 8 championship points. His debut came at the 1968 French Grand Prix, a wet race in which he finished fourth on debut — a strong result for a driver entering Formula One at Rouen in a Cooper-BRM. His favourite circuit was the Nürburgring despite disappointment there in F1: his first two attempts at the German Grand Prix ended in first-lap accidents. By finishing the 1969 Monaco Grand Prix despite mechanical trouble, Elford became the first driver since Louis Chiron to perform well in both of Monte Carlo's famous motor sport events — the Rally and the Grand Prix.
After retirement Elford settled in South Florida. He authored several books on motorsport, including Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook (1994) and Vic Elford: Reflections on a Golden Era in Motorsports (2005). In 2015 he received the Phil Hill Award from the Road Racing Drivers Club, presented by club president Bobby Rahal. Elford died on 13 March 2022, aged 86, having been diagnosed with cancer approximately a year before his death.