Plans for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup were first announced in June 2009 and formally confirmed in December of that year. The ACO's objective was to create a genuinely intercontinental championship structure linking established endurance events in Europe, North America, and Asia, using the regulatory classes already in operation at the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the common technical framework.
The ILMC was open to sports prototypes and grand tourers across the ACO's standard class hierarchy: LMP1, LMP2, GT1 (in 2010 only), and GTE. Manufacturers' cups were contested in the LMP1 and GTE classes, while teams' cups were awarded across all ACO classes provided at least four cars were entered in each. The ILMC ran concurrently with other series and some of its rounds were integrated into existing event programmes, such as Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
The 2010 championship comprised three rounds: the 1000 km of Silverstone in the United Kingdom (September 12), Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in the United States (October 2), and the 1000 km of Zhuhai in China (November 7). The season was short but deliberately positioned the championship as a true global series.
For 2011 the calendar expanded to seven events. The season opened with the 12 Hours of Sebring in the United States in March, moved to Europe for a six-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium in May, then reached its centrepiece at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. A six-hour race at Imola in Italy followed in July, before the series returned to the United Kingdom for the Silverstone event and then to the United States for Petit Le Mans. The season concluded with the Zhuhai race in China.
Peugeot was the dominant force throughout the ILMC's existence, winning nine of the ten races held across both seasons. The French manufacturer's LMP1 programme was at the peak of its powers during this period, with its diesel-engined prototypes proving consistently superior to the opposition. The concentration of Peugeot victories underlined both the strength of the marque's factory effort and the relatively limited depth of LMP1 competition outside the works teams.
At the end of the 2011 season, the ACO and the FIA jointly announced the creation of the FIA World Endurance Championship, which would begin in 2012. The new championship adopted the same regulatory framework and a similar calendar structure as the ILMC, effectively replacing it. The FIA's involvement elevated the series to world championship status, providing a more permanent institutional footing for global endurance racing at the top level. The ILMC is therefore understood primarily as the direct predecessor and structural template for the FIA World Endurance Championship, which has continued to grow as the premier international platform for prototype and GT endurance competition.