I raced a B Sedan car in the '70's with leaf springs...Pinto, by the way...with race tires. Then an ITB Pinto with DOT tires in the '90's.
If the bushing material is stiff, and the rubber insulators are removed from the axle/spring interface, the leaf springs will control the side to side motion very well.
I'm of the opinion that Panhard rods are best avoided. They have the potential to change the roll dynamics from left hand corners to right hand corners as a result of the placement of the axle pivot. The roll center remains at the middle of the car, but the actual pivot point is different from left to right.
Watts links are more efficient at the cost of greater complexity.
Good racing.
Bill