Unless your going for full on performance modification to an engine there's no need to use a full electronic ignition system in an older car. I have the Pertronix pointless system in all my older cars that used mechanical points and they work great and are very reliable, plus you only have to set the points once at install time and never have to look at them again. And the Pertronix system won't give you point float that mechanical points had at upper RPM ranges. Then when it's all done the system looks completely stock. You could also get a higher voltage coil to go with the Pertronix unit but then the car will no longer have that factory look...which quite honestly you only need the factory look if your going to a car show, so if you want to drive it on the weekends and not show it you could remove the stock coil put on the better coil and drive.

I love the simplicity of older cars, there are some technological advantages you can add to make them better like the Pertronics, but you can go to far and computerize crap and end up with a huge expense and a complicated and expensive repair when crap goes bad. I know a guy who spent around $2000 for a computer controlled throttle body fuel injection system for his car and he's had nothing but issues since he converted from the carb to the injection system. And his fuel economy is only maybe a gallon more per mile, so it's going to take a lifetime to pay back the investment. But he has money and likes to play around...he has 21 classic cars!! I keep a couple of my cars at his place because he likes them there, and he has the room I don't at my place, and his "barn" is climate controlled.

Side note: I carry around a set of new mechanical points in all my cars I converted just in the unlikely event that the Pertronix unit fails, so far I haven't had to resort to that.

Also you can make your old car theft "proof" by simply removing the distributor rotor and take it with you. Old cars were and are easy to steal, but with the rotor gone it will just crank, and if the guy is sort of smart in mechanics he'll open the hood to look for a electrical cut off switch or wire for one, battery turn off switch, or a fuel cut off valve, not seeing one he'll just leave; even if he's really good and pops the cap to check for spark he'll notice the rotor gone but he's not going to have one in his pants pocket that happens to fit, so again he leaves.

I too have known people who use the Pertronix system and they love them as well.