Not your off the Showroom floor Camaro for sure, but the European Fords and all were not either, a few years later it became nearly the same travesty as with US Funny cars. Way more interesting than running around in ovals IMHO.
Dan Gurney did some impressive demonstrations of their capabilities with around 63 and up Ford Galaxies, and my personal favorite was Marcel Pretre who competed on a couple of hillclimbs with 57/58 Furys with some modest help from the Swiss importer I think, which he won twice I guess in Freiburg where the pics linked to below was taken. The wreck in very rusted out conditon still exists AFAIK. A Ford Lotus Cortina from this period is high up on my bucket list and probably will be the last car I will start hunting for in the next couple of years.
A Ford Lotus Cortina from this period is high up on my bucket list and probably will be the last car I will start hunting for in the next couple of years.