I had a mystery failure on one of my V8s, the rotor arm went short to the
post inside.  Took much head scratching to solve that one.

If it's "always a pig to start" there's something wrong with it, though - my
hotwire 3.5 is pretty good - it's slightly iffy at the moment but then it's
due a new set of plugs at this (or maybe the last :-)) service.

leads are a good source of problems, if they're not in good condition.
Magnecor are worth the extra pennies, IMHO.

You could try using a second battery or a battery charger to supply a full
12V to the coil positive (the -ve goes to the engine block, not to the other
side of the coil!) - We used to have a motor which needed this treatment -
eventually found that the ignition switch was for some reason not supplying
full voltage/current, and that the voltage drop when cranking killed the
sparks.

doing that will eliminate any ignition-feed problems, including immobilisers
affecting the ignition.

have you tried towing it to bumpstart it?

Other things to check: cold start system (I think there is such a thing on
the hotwire...) for function;  fuel system in general for correct settings.
Depending on age it may or may not be closed loop (i.e. lambda sensors in
the exhaust) and that could add problems;  fuel lift pump for correct
operation and output - on mine, I had a fuel pump that went lazy - it still
ran and still pumped fuel, just not enough.