The FIA's championship for sports car manufacturers went through several name changes as the governing body adapted its regulations to evolving categories of competition. From 1953 to 1961 the series was called the World Sports Car Championship; from 1962 to 1965 it became the International Championship for GT Manufacturers as focus shifted to production-based grand touring cars; from 1966 to 1967 it was the International Manufacturers Championship. In 1968, the series was renamed the International Championship for Makes, a title it retained through 1971 while covering sports prototype machinery, with a separate International Grand Touring Trophy running alongside for GT cars.
The period 1968–1971 represented a convergence of factors: large engine capacity regulations, major factory investment from Ford, Ferrari, Porsche, and Alfa Romeo, and a calendar built around the world's greatest endurance circuits.
This era of the championship was contested between sports prototype categories designated S (cars of up to five litres) and P (cars of up to three litres). The regulation framework invited factory involvement from the world's largest automotive manufacturers, each spending heavily on purpose-built racing cars.
The machinery of the period included some of the most iconic racing cars ever produced. Ford's GT40, which had dominated Le Mans from 1966 to 1969, continued in the early years. Ferrari responded with the 330 P4 and later the 512S. The Lola T70 and the Chaparral — an American challenger that introduced aerodynamic innovation — added variety. Alfa Romeo developed the 33 series in pursuit of its first prototype title. And Porsche, working through the transition from the 908 to the dominant 917, became the defining story of the championship's final years.
The Porsche 917, introduced in 1969, was a five-litre flat-twelve car of extraordinary speed and initially questionable stability. By 1970, with aerodynamic revisions producing the 917K (Kurzheck, short-tail) configuration, it had become virtually unbeatable. Porsche took the manufacturers' title in both 1969 and 1970, with Ferrari's 512S programme unable to match the 917's pace over a full season.
The calendar in this period drew on classic circuits that demanded the full range of driver skill. Le Mans, Sebring, the Nürburgring, Spa-Francorchamps, Monza, the Targa Florio on Sicily's mountain roads, and the Watkins Glen 6 Hours formed the backbone of the schedule. The Watkins Glen race featured on the championship calendar from 1968 through 1971. The 1000 km Zeltweg in Austria appeared throughout this era.
In 1968, Ford won the championship with the GT40, the model having taken four consecutive Le Mans victories from 1966. Ferrari responded with major investment for 1969, deploying the 312 P and 212 E Montagna, but Porsche's growing strength told across the season.
The 1970 season saw the most dramatic confrontation, with Ferrari's fleet of 512S cars numerically dominant in race entries but outpaced overall by the 917. Porsche won the championship again. Le Mans 1970 produced a historic result: Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann drove a 917K to victory, giving Porsche its first outright Le Mans win and launching what became a record 19 victories at the circuit.
By 1971, with the 917 effectively unchallengeable, the era drew toward its close. Porsche retained the title. Alfa Romeo continued developing the 33 series, building experience that would eventually yield championship success under later regulations.
After 1971, the FIA restructured the regulations again, replacing the large-capacity S class with a three-litre limit for the newly named World Championship for Makes from 1972. This change eliminated the 917 and 512S and redirected the championship toward smaller, more fuel-efficient prototypes, fundamentally altering the competitive landscape.
The four seasons of the International Championship for Makes left a lasting impression on motorsport culture. The cars produced during this period — the GT40, 917, 512S, 330 P4 — became canonical references for prototype sports car design and are among the most reproduced and recognised racing cars of any era. The circuits and events of 1968–1971 are central to the mythology of endurance racing, and the intense factory rivalry between Porsche and Ferrari in this period remains a defining narrative of motorsport history.