My friend has a model A, a 29 or 30. It hasnt run in awhile but I rode in it a few times. Scariest thing to me besides the plate glass windshield, is that the fuel tank is right above your knees, inside/under the dashboard. Anyway, those cars had to have their engines overhauled (rings, bearings, etc) about every 15-20,000 miles. Probably because the manufacturing tolerances were so sloppy, not to mention metallurgy technology was primitive. Things like ignition points would have to be tinkered with monthly. But they were simple enough anyone could do it.
Im with you though that just complexity alone wouldnt be enough to cause fires or other fatal failures of any machine. Really its how many points of failure there are in the system that if neglected lead to worst case scenarios and while that sounds like complexity, its not. You can have more components in the system, but engineer out the liabilities. The ignition points are a good example. Technically speaking modern ignition systems ARE more complex than points distributors were. But they have few moving parts that can just get out of whack so are more trouble free.
lots of fun times.
