[dataway]

I think some of these aftermarket companies are building the best of both worlds. Take a switch that was designed to switch 10-15 amps and have it switching 0.5 amps and the contacts at least will probably never fail ... the mechanicals might but the contacts probably won't

I always forget warranties ... and honestly, most of these cars were probably pretty freakin trouble free for the first 8 years. I know I got my GTO when it was 8 years old, 93,000 miles and everything worked ... only had the usual wear items replaced. I'd say there are many modern cars that don't fair any better.

And of course ... owning a 68 I assume time was frozen from that point forward and any weakness I find was never corrected .. but of course they were. Numerous changes made in the electrical system 68 to 69.

Still, you gotta admit ... some of the decisions were questionable. I'm sure they had their reasons but sometimes it's like if they wired a house they would have put the breaker box in the attic And a LOT of issues that could have been solved with wire 1 gauge larger and maybe something other than a 1/4" x 0.030" spade terminal.

[Shiny]

I agree it sometimes seems weird without knowing the back story.

For sure the world has changed, though, and not necessarily in a way that makes products more "robust".

For example, do you trust the relay contacts you buy today more than you trust those in your 1968 GM-engineered ignition switch? Which had more engineering behind the materials and design? Which had more cost pressure when developed and marketed? I truly think GM (and other US auto manufacturers) in the 60s and 70s had amazing engineering depth and expertise. In my experience and to your point about cars being more "robust" back then, there were many parts "over-designed" by today's standards.

My old boss used to describe design decisions that cut reliability to save cost "harvesting the margin". One thing technology delivered in the last 50 years are tools to more accurately predict component life. These tools are definitely used to harvest margins. "How good is good enough?" can be answered a LOT better today than in 1968.