Hmmm, have an interesting set of symptoms and wondered what others think the
cause is.

Go to start the car and nothing happens, no click, nothing (all idiot lights
etc fine with no dimming)
Try again, car cranks for a second or two then stops as if I released the
key.
Car will eventually crank and start as per normal.
These symptoms tend to be random in sequence, sometimes not appearing for
days/weeks.

These symptoms occur once in a while but have occurred more frequently of
late. Today, it took 5 goes before the car finally started.

My initial thoughts are that the starter has come loose or the battery lead
needs cleaning. That matches a similar problem I had years ago on other
cars. However, a quick visual inspection (no crawling under the car) doesn't
show much.

Another apparently unrelated symptom happened recently. The remote to unlock
the car refused to work one morning but was fine later in the day. I'm
wondering if the battery is dying and/or the contact to the ignition switch
is a bit iffy. Thus the key isn't "communicating" with the ECU/immobiliser
and it's refusing to start.

Anyone had similar behaviour from their VT- ? I will try a brand new key I
recently bought for a week and see if symptoms persist. If so, it's not the
key/immobiliser. Should I get some spare time I may run it up on the ramps
and check out the starter area for anything obvious.

PS. I seriously doubt the starter has anything wrong with it. Perhaps it's
not grounding correctly through dirt or oil but even then I'd still expect
enough contact for the solenoid/bendix to click.

PPS. Intermittent neutral/park safety switch perhaps? Will wiggle shifter
next time and see what happens.