Lowtimer,
but on the other hand you are paying a great deal more attention to care of the engine and prop than would have been the case in WW2. Lots of pre-heating, oil analysis, a near-fanatical inspection regime, and a generally pre-emptive approach to anything going even slightly wrong
This reminds me a comment that Martin Brundle made after the recent Imola GP where there wasn't a single retirement inspite of engines needing to last two full weekends. He basically commented that i appears that previous year's unreliability problems stemmed from the constant preventive maintenance
Probably apples and oranges, but food for thought (pardon the pun).