The FIA launched the championship in 1953, drawing together existing headline events rather than creating purpose-built rounds. The inaugural calendar included the Mille Miglia, Carrera Panamericana, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 12 Hours of Sebring, RAC Tourist Trophy, and the 1000 km Nürburgring — races already regarded as the most demanding tests in motorsport. The championship awarded titles to manufacturers rather than drivers, recognising the factory programmes that deployed works teams across multiple continents.
Cars competed in two primary categories: purpose-built sports prototypes, which represented the pinnacle of performance, and production-based grand touring cars. Both categories were further subdivided by engine displacement class, reflecting the diversity of machinery that filled the grids — a mixture of highly developed factory cars and privately entered machinery from gentleman drivers in smaller-displacement Bandinis, Nardis, and similar cars.
Ferrari and Maserati were the dominant forces through much of the championship's existence and the fiercest rivals of the era. Ferrari took the title in 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, and 1961. Maserati, despite numerous race victories and several seasons of strong competition, never managed to win the overall manufacturers' title. The marque's 300S and 450S models were feared in outright speed, but Ferrari's consistency across the full calendar proved decisive.
Mercedes-Benz entered the championship in 1955 with the devastating 300 SLR, winning at the Mille Miglia with Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson in a record run, and achieving strong results at the Targa Florio and Tourist Trophy. However, the manufacturer withdrew from all motorsport after the catastrophic accident at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans — in which more than 80 spectators died — and did not return to the championship during this period.
Aston Martin entered as a small factory operation and spent several seasons searching for success before winning the 1959 championship. The title came with a consistent effort across the season's rounds, culminating in a win at the Tourist Trophy that clinched the title. Jaguar, despite the potential of the C-Type and D-Type, chose not to enter any events in the championship other than Le Mans throughout this period, leaving a notable gap in the competitive landscape.
Porsche developed as an increasingly significant competitor during the late 1950s, focusing on smaller displacement classes before growing into a major force in subsequent decades.
The Mille Miglia, run on Italian public roads from Brescia to Rome and back, featured in every season from 1953 to 1957 until a fatal accident in 1957 ended the event permanently. The Carrera Panamericana, a road race through Mexico, appeared in 1953 and 1954 before also ceasing. The Targa Florio on Sicily's mountain roads was part of the championship from 1955 through the end of this era. Together with Le Mans, Sebring, the Nürburgring, and the Tourist Trophy, these events created a schedule of extreme variety — from fast Italian roads to banked circuits, from the Sicilian mountains to the Florida tarmac.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans was a fixture in almost every season, missing only from the 1956 calendar. It represented the championship's highest-profile event, attracting the largest entries and the greatest public attention.
The championship in its original World Sports Car Championship form ended after 1961. Beginning in 1962, the FIA restructured the series, shifting primary focus to grand touring cars and renaming the title the International Championship for GT Manufacturers. Sports prototype racing continued under separate sub-championships, but the unified formula that had defined 1953–1961 was replaced by a more complex structure suited to the evolving landscape of international motorsport. The nine years of the original championship had, however, established endurance racing as a genuine world championship discipline and cemented the reputations of circuits, marques, and drivers that remain central to motorsport history.