Quick search didn't bring up anything relevant. I'm kind of in a hurry because the car is sitting in the mechanic's parking lot, and I can't figure out if I should pay them a little bit more to test something else before I go to all the trouble to try to haul it back home without getting a ticket for towing with a rope...

Intermittent spark; I replaced the bad coil not long ago, then it intermittently died, and then finally permanently died. Mech. says a bad "igniter" maybe inside the distributor could have ruined the coil, and could be causing the no-start. Some ignition part inside the distributor was replaced by the dealership some 15 years / 135K miles ago.

Is there some quick test they could do to see if that's it? They aren't brick specialists, but seem to like them alright (and be impressed with this good old engine!).