Well it did get an academy award nomination, which isn't a small thing really. Steve McQueen was the king of cool, bought cars and bikes he liked , put a 12 gauge through Kieth Moons window ( they were neighbors) , took movie roles he liked and hunted and fished and flew planes. And slept with hot girls. I sat next to his ex wife at dinner 3 yrs ago, she has stories ( and sells books about it) . Hes the guy everyone would want to have a beer with.
You weren't boirn to late but you may be in the wrong geography, scrambles and desert races are still big in the south west, hill climbs are still big deals in the Midwest and south west. Canada missed out on a lot of that stuff, on the scale the US does it.