CD ignitions, like MSD makes, work differently. Its not an uncontrolled 14 Volts. The input energy is still controlled. With a Capacitive Discharge I think of it more like sending a package of energy through the primary. The coil then acts like a transformer.

As far as last dates of use. Ballast resistors or equivalent were used on all cars and trucks until replaced by systems that used a different means to control power through coils. For GM, that was in the HEI module, around 1975. For Ford, that was the EEC IV introduced in 1983-4. That was the orignal application for the 'TFI coil'. That didn't mean the end. Many jeeps continued to use Ford's earlier Duraspark II systems (with resistance wire) at least though 1991.