Not making excuses for Boomers, but fifty years ago they were just starting to encase the engine with all sorts of smog crap, hoses and wiring harnesses not too mention fuel injection instead of carburetors.
Yeah. About 20 years ago I showed my nephew the engine in my '41, a nice flathead 6.
He took one look at the single barrel carb topped with an oil bath air cleaner, and the naked (by today's) standards block, and said "Uncle Joe, where's the rest of the engine?"
I just replied, "Son, it's a '41. There was a war on. That's all you got. "