The inaugural race, which counted towards the 1953 World Sportscar Championship, was won by Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Farina in a Ferrari.

The last race on the Northern Loop in 1983 was won by Jochen Mass and Jacky Ickx in their Rothmans Porsche 956.

In that year, due to the ongoing construction work, the track had been shorted to 20.832 km and provisional pits were used.

Since 1984, the 1000 km races were run on the new, much shorter Grand-Prix-Strecke, while the 24 Hours Nürburgring stayed on the legendary long track.

As a part of the Oldtimer Festival in 2010 the tradition and name of the renowned ADAC 1000 km of Nürburgring will be continued by the motor sport club DAMC 05.