How to Make Your Car Last Forever: Avoid Expensive Repairs, Improve Fuel Economy, Understand Your Warranty, Save Money

Here we have a typical point ignition system. Note the parts in the distributor: points, condenser, and vacuum
advance unit. In this setup, the weakness was the points mechanically wearing out from riding on the four-,
six-, or eight-sided (depending on whether you had a four-, six-, or eight-cylinder engine) cam or the
condenser electrically shorting out to the distributor body, resulting in drivability or starting problems. Also,
the vacuum advance unit—which is connected to the point breaker plate inside the distributor to provide spark
advance under acceleration in accordance with engine load—tended to go bad and create hesitation problems.
Overall, it is a problematic system compared to advanced computer technology.