It was created by businessman Luigi Chinetti to promote the Ferrari marque in North America through success in endurance racing.

It was created in 1958 when Chinetti received backing from wealthy racers George Arents, Jr and Jan de Vroom.

A Ferrari 158 car officially entered by NART sealed the win of the 1964 F1 World championship with John Surtees, as the works team competed the last two races (the United States Grand Prix and Mexican Grand Prix) in cars painted white with blue lengthwise "Cunningham racing stripes" - the national colours of the teams licensed in the United States.

[1] Since the Ferrari cars entered in the 1965 and 1969 F1 seasons by NART and at the 1966 Italian Grand Prix by the British privateer Reg Parnell team kept wearing the red colour, the 1964 Mexican Grand Prix was the last time Ferrari cars wore other than the traditional red colour (rosso corsa) in Formula One.

The peak of NART's own racing success came in 1965, when a NART-entered 250 LM driven by Jochen Rindt, Masten Gregory and Ed Hugus became the last Ferrari to win Le Mans until the AF Corse-entered 499P at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.