...... The technology to coat chrome on plastic didn't come until around 2000. ....
No it goes back much further.... our 65-66's do have some chrome plated plastic. Best example is the dash knobs for lights., wipers, etc ('66 anyway... I haven't been inside my 65 in waaay too long.) They get heavy use so it's a fairly thick plating. If you see one failing, you'll notice other metals beneath the chrome such as copper.
On the other hand, while armrest bases appear to be chromed, they are actually vaporized aluminum. They supposedly don't handled as much so a thinner shiny aluminum coating with a protective over coat suffices for a few years. Same process is used on the 'chrome' on model car kits and the back side of mirrors.
But I digress!..... I actually have experience with vapor-deposited coatings during my engineering career in the optical coating business. I've done highly reflective metal coatings like aluminum and gold, 75 layer dielectric coatings (about 3 days worth) with 99.99% reflection at a single wavelength, and even more anti-reflection coatings to reduce the normal 8% reflection on an instrument lens down to under 0.25% reflection. It's a neat technology that uses components like cryogenic pumps operating at 15 degrees Kelvin, electron beams to vaporize Titanium, and Ion guns to clean and improve the density of coatings. I even got to meet one of the great Russian engineers that was instrumental in developing the ion guns for the space program.
End digress!.....
