Update:

Still have not done anything (no time), thinking about swinging down to Harbor Freight and buying an ohm meter, if only to rule out certain things. If the car refuses to start I HAVE discovered that jiggling the key in the ignition will work, sometimes after one try, sometimes after ten. All the lights on the instrument cluster DO come on. This leads me to believe it may be the ignition switch.

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1983 240D, 272K+ miles (odo broke)