Many of the “blocks” of motors have been around since the '50’s. There were a lot of changes in the '70’s. Compare the motors of 1968 to 1978 and you’ll see many changes in heads, fuel systems, and ignition systems. All to cope with pollution control requirements. Many of the items mentioned by OP were available in the '70’s but were used only in a few vehicles, often higher end cars and California cars. These things became more commonplace and were put on all cars as pollution requirements got stricter. Remember CA started with pollution controls so CA cars had more “high tech” gadgets than the rest of the country for about 10 years.