The thing about waste spark that makes it really attractive is it's simplicity. Not a single moving part in the whole system unless you count the crank. No friction wearing parts at all.

Overall, it's far simpler than any distributor system. You want to see complicated, you ought to take a look at the FSM for a 51 Buick. I'm re-wiring one for a guy on the side, and I'll tell you what... the advancement of transistor technology has made everything we think of about cars so much simpler. You should see just how they regulate the generator on one of those things. He's upgrading to a 12v alternator as part of this custom-resto and I'm glad.

Clay