[Alvin]

Up for sale is my ultra rare, 1978 Pontiac Trans Am Macho TA. The history of the Macho Trans Am dates back to 1977 when two brothers, Dennis and Kyle Mecham, sons of a Phoenix area Pontiac dealer decided to begin modifying Firebirds to restore some of the missing performance brought about by the addition of more and more emissions equipment on factory cars. The brothers began modifying the already popular scraming chicken cars, 26 were produced in 1977 as they began to ramp up their performance shop. In 1978 203 Macho TAs would come out of the DKM shop. A W72/L78 engine was used as a baseline, the carb and ignition were modified and a set of Hooker headers and twin catalytic converters were added for a net 50bhp gain.

Correction: The actual number of 1978 Macho T/A's built by DKM is 204.

How do I know? Was told by Todd Coombs @ TA Nat's several years ago: IIRC (2) two of the cars were purchased elsewhere and brought in by customers for conversion at Mecham.

The Takeaway: I won a DKM Polo Shirt at the TA Nats by answering the following trivia

Question - "How many Macho T/A's were produced by DKM in 1978?
Answer - 204! "You are correct! Come on up and claim your prize!"

I gave it to Jimmy Flemming who had "restified" his 1979 White & Burgundy Macho TA #53 W72 400 4-spd.
As I recall, Jimmy was ecstatic receiving that shirt, and I was happy sharing in his enjoyment.

Dennis Mecham (wearing the same color & design DKM polo) and Alvin at said event below

Note: The Gold '79 Macho above was a 403 Auto, owned then by Todd Coombs.

[muscle_collector]

before everyone bashes them to badly, keep in mind that there was nothing that even came close to touching them back when the mecum brothers did them. I personally have always liked them and have owned several of them. I still have a black/gold 78 and a black/red 79

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by muscle_collector

before everyone bashes them to badly, keep in mind that there was nothing that even came close to touching them back when the mecum brothers did them. I personally have always liked them and have owned several of them. I still have a black/gold 78 and a black/red 79

Not so much bashing them for me; just definitely an "over-the-top" version of an already "over-the-top" graphic and be-spoilered Disco Era Trans Am platform. Definitely an "In Your Face" "Love It" or "Hate It" specialty Pontiac Dealer Performance car.

Funny how much a difference the paint scheme makes as to the acceptability of these (any vehicle) to me. Many 1970's "in style" Disco color combos that were "all the rage then"...now "not so much"

But then again; the White/Red, Gold/Black, Black/Blue etc. combos look pretty good IMO
http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/..._feature8.html

Check this out:

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Alvin

Correction: The actual number of 1978 Macho T/A's built by DKM is 204.

How do I know? Was told by Todd Coombs @ TA Nat's several years ago: IIRC (2) two of the cars were purchased elsewhere and brought in by customers for conversion at Mecham.

The Takeaway: I won a DKM Polo Shirt at the TA Nats by answering the following trivia

Question - "How many Macho T/A's were produced by DKM in 1978?
Answer - 204! "You are correct! Come on up and claim your prize!"

I gave it to Jimmy Flemming who had "restified" his 1979 White & Burgundy Macho TA #53 W72 400 4-spd.
As I recall, Jimmy was ecstatic receiving that shirt, and I was happy sharing in his enjoyment.

Dennis Mecham (wearing the same color & design DKM polo) and Alvin at said event below
Note: The Gold '79 Macho above was a 403 Auto, owned then by Todd Coombes.

From Hemmings Muscle Machines http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/..._feature8.html

"Back in 1977, Dennis and Kyle Mecham built 26 performance-tweaked Trans Ams that they dubbed Macho T/As and initially sold through their family's Pontiac dealership, Mecham Motors, near Phoenix, Arizona. The modified Trans Ams were a hit and the fledgling company, DKM Design, Performance sold all they could build, so they ramped up production in 1978 and marketed the cars through other Pontiac dealers. Sales of the warmed-up Firebirds soared to 204 units. But, uh, what of that oh-so-Seventies name?

"At that time, macho was the 'in' word in the Southwest," said Dennis Mecham, now president of Mecham Design, Performance. "Everything was macho. In desperation, I said, 'Why not call it Macho T/A?' It was almost tongue-in-cheek. It may not be the best name, but how can you forget it?""