Well, the old girl breathed life again last night.
New starter motor was required and took a while to get one (Gotta remember it is downtown Tassie that I live).

The old starter still worked, and could have been repaired by new contacts in the solenoid.
But it absolutely stunk of overheating and the pinion shaft had started to discolour. The sparky would not give any guarantees it would not fail in a week.
Seeing that it is such a PITA to change, I opted for the new one.

Have to go for a long drive this weekend to get re-aquainted.
Driving my son's 406HP WRX for a couple of weeks made me forget how much I love the VX.

Life is good again.

PK