"in the old days"....some cars were equipped with "shower of sparks"ignition....I'm sure a search for "trembler-coil ignition" will throw up something!
Cars into the 1930's routinely incorporated a toothed ring in the centre of the steering -wheel protruding from the hub, radially, were three levers that had ratchet-engagement with the toothed ring....they were hand-throttle, mixture and advance-retard.
a popular trick was to leave the car fully-retarded before switching-off...upon return, switch on ignition and advance timing....invariably a 6-cylinder would start..a 4-cylinder a bit more of a gamble, but it saved the hand-cranking.
Quality cars of the period often had both coil-ignition and Magneto.
not much new in the basic internal-combustion engine, just refinement of old ideas Modern materials and techniques help, too.
