Swaters made his competitive debut at the 24 Hours of Spa, co-driving an MG with his friend Paul Frère, who later became a renowned motorsport journalist. In 1950, Swaters, Frère and André Pilette founded Ecurie Belgique, a banner under which they prepared cars for themselves and other Belgian drivers across both Grand Prix and sports car racing.
Racing a yellow Talbot-Lago, Swaters entered two World Championship rounds: the 1951 German and Italian Grands Prix. His Grand Prix results were modest, but his organisational abilities and financial acumen were already setting him apart. In 1952 he co-founded Ecurie Francorchamps with fellow Belgian Charles de Tornaco and British driver Geoff Richardson, aligning the team primarily with Ferrari. Behind the wheel of the team's Ferrari 500, Swaters claimed a notable outright victory at the 1953 Avusrennen Formula 2 race. He subsequently shifted his personal focus to sports car racing, campaigning a Jaguar C-Type and later a D-Type.
After retiring from driving in 1957, Swaters became manager of the newly consolidated Ecurie Nationale Belge, formed in 1955 through the merger of his Francorchamps outfit, Frère's Ecurie Belgique, and Johnny Claes' Ecurie Belge. The ENB entered Cooper-Climax cars in Formula 2 and later moved into Formula One in 1960, also running a modified version of the Emeryson chassis. The team served as a launching pad for several Belgian talents, including Olivier Gendebien and Lucien and Mauro Bianchi.
By 1964 Swaters had redirected his attention entirely to sports car racing. His relaunched Ecurie Francorchamps, which had remained independent from the ENB effort throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, became a consistent class contender. The team claimed a class win at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, and its crowning achievement as a management operation came with an overall victory at the 1965 500 km of Spa. Ecurie Francorchamps continued operating until 1982.
Swaters' relationship with Ferrari began almost by accident. Having purchased a Ferrari 500 Formula 2 car in 1952 for his racing team, he was contacted the following year by the factory to resolve a customs problem for a car destined for the Brussels Motor Show. He sorted the issue and helped make a sale at the stand, and as a direct result Ferrari appointed him official importer for the Benelux in 1953. That partnership would last more than fifty years.
The commercial relationship deepened into something more personal. Ferrari chose to unveil the Ferrari 456 to the world at Swaters' Garage Francorchamps in 1992. On that same occasion, Ferrari introduced "Blue Swaters" as a dedicated colour, honouring forty years of the partnership. Swaters assembled an extraordinary private collection over his lifetime, including original factory documents, vintage racing cars, sculptures, and Ferrari memorabilia. His Galleria Ferrari housed remarkable artefacts, among them one of only three bronze crucifixes cast at Ferrari's foundry for the Pope's visit to Maranello, and a wooden Prancing Horse sculpture from Enzo Ferrari's own office at Fiorano. The collection also encompassed rare models such as the four-door Pinin prototype and the Ferrari GTO Evoluzione. In 2008, Swaters auctioned a significant portion of the collection at a sale in Maranello.
Jacques Swaters occupied a unique position in postwar European motorsport: simultaneously a competitor, a team organiser, a talent developer, and a custodian of Ferrari's heritage. His work through Ecurie Francorchamps and Ecurie Nationale Belge helped sustain Belgian participation at the highest levels of Formula One and sports car racing through the 1950s and 1960s, while his five-decade relationship with Ferrari as dealer and collector left an enduring mark on the marque's history outside Italy.