My friend had a 1972 Impala. No electronics whatsoever and only one vacuum line under the hood. Two I guess if you count the brake booster. Chevy 350 motor. It ran like a top, rode great, and was as smooth and responsive as any Lexus or any other luxury brand today. (It did leave us stranded once when the points failed) It got about 15 MPG city.
No problem starting in the cold, but it did suffer from fuel line freeze up if you didn’t keep some alcohol in the tank.
Nice old car… I’d have to agree that fuel injection is a big step forward though.