The "Macho" Trans Am

Everybody has heard of a Yenko Camaro or Chevelle. But what about a "Macho" Trans Am? In 1977, brothers Dennis and Kyle Mecham (whose father owned a Pontiac dealership in Glendale, Arizona) created the Macho T/A to restore real performance. Federal rules restricted factory changes on new cars, so they “bought” brand-new Trans Ams from the dealership (making them used), then heavily modified them under their DKM banner before reselling.

Typical upgrades included:

1. Tuning the W72 400-cubic-inch V8 by re-jetted Quadrajet carb, recurved distributor, opening the shaker scoop for better airflow
2. Hooker headers and freer-flowing dual exhaust
3. Suspension work (often WS6 package, lowered stance, better shocks/tires)
4. Bold “MACHO T/A” door/rocker graphics and aggressive cosmetics

Aug 25, 2026

Reply to alsancle…

Replies (44)

· 3w

More photos..

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· 3w

There is a really well done registry site for the Macho T/A. Check it out here. All kinds of details along with all the known cars.
https://www.machoregistry.com/

· 3w

Graphics aside, the made some real performance upgrades to those cars. A W72 base engine was the baddest ass engine post 1975 you could buy. The upgrades they made were substantial.

· 3w

I owned many 2nd-gen Trans-Ams. The DKM brothers and Herb Adams at VSE could really make a big difference to these cars.
Remember kids, a Trans-Am is a Camaro that's all grown up.

· 3w

Shawn, were you familiar with the DKM brother before? This is all news to me. I was had sort of heard of the Macho Trans Am after one showed up on BAT. Did not know the back story. Seems like the two kids were living large with their dad's dealership. That first run of cars sold instantly.

· 3w

Yes but I was big into F-body cars before I got better.
The Mecham brothers did a couple Camaros as well, they had a Martin turbo system you could buy for the small block Chevy engines.
I used to autocross a 1981 Turbo Trans-Am with all the Herb Adams, VSE stuff done to it. My friend who was a Jaguar guy invited me to the local Jag club autocross because they wanted some brand-X cars to beat up on.
I took home the FTD trophy and was never invited back.

· 3w

😂😂😂

I had an 80 Z28 with the stock 350 four speed. It sounded nice but wasn't really fast. Although probably faster than anything but a Grand National until the fox bodied mustangs came along. We avoided the 81 cars because of the dash electronics.

· 3w

You might be thinking of 82 when the 3rd gen cars came out.
81 had very little changed from 80.

· 3w

The biggest change in the US was you could not get the 350 with a four speed anymore. But I also thought they did something with the circuitry in the dash. But maybe I'm mis-remembering and it started in 82?

· 3w

No you're definitely right. In 1981, all GM cars sold federally in the USA were required to come with the CCC (Computer Controlled Command), essentially a super primitive ECU that controlled the carb, the electric choke and added heaps more sensors to control the engines. MY '81 Turbo Pace Car still has the CCC system, and it can get finicky if everything isn't hooked up, or a sensor (like say an O2 sensor) starts to read badly with age

· 3w

I have a '79 VSE Fire Am too :)
400 W72 with the Doug Nash 4+1, has all the Ph1, Ph2 and most of the Ph3 VSE Options Catalogue options

· 3w

I need to go research the VSE Fire AM. Learning a lot of new things today!

· 3w

And thanks on the 81 CCC info. I was 90% positive there was a reason to buy the 80 over the 81 besides inability to buy the big engine with the stick. @ShawnG had an 81 and raced it. Knowing him, he ripped all that stuff out.

· 3w

Thanks for jogging my memory.
I'm up here in The Great White North, our 81's didnt get any of that mess. Export cars were carried over from 1980.

· 3w

@alsancle Herb Adams was a genius.

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· 3w

@ShawnG this Herb Adams?

· 3w

Ok. I see I don't know everything. I'll need to dive in to this.
https://www.hotrod.com/features/hppp-0703-pontiac-firebird-fire-am

· 3w

Your car? That's what I'm talking about!!

· 3w

I saw a Macho Trans Am at a cruise night maybe 10 years ago. Thought it was something the guy made up but he had a placard explaining the car. There were some nice engine mods to boost the factory 400 and when he left it sounded awesome.

· 3w

Thanks. I just killed 45 minutes going through that website. Very well done. I think I like the Macho Trans Am. I also think if they had picked a slightly different name they would sell for twice as much money. There are some great pictures.

· 3w

I feel like you need to look like Magnum, P.I. to drive something called "Macho".

· 3w

A great idea with maybe not the greatest name ever. You are too young, but disco died abruptly around 1979. And it sort of took out the "macho" moniker with it.

The engine upgrades on the W72 engine with the WS6 suspension is legit.

· 3w

At the very least, you’d need to be the kind of guy who would wear this jacket to a court date.

· 3w

Travis, I have wanted a Y82/Y84 W72 Four speed car forever. The problem is the Y82 (Special Edition Black & Gold) has become real money for a nice car. Some of them have traded around 100k.

When I was in 5th grade we did a project where we wrote a famous person a letter seeking an autograph. I sent one to Burt Reynolds and got a response (probably from his flunky in charge of responses). But I was thrilled.

· 3w

Thanks for taking the time to go through it :)
Dennis and Kyle apparently had a really hard time working out what to call the cars they were modifying, eventually they got fed up and Dennis just said the word Macho, so it stuck! I think it's catchy and when I first saw a photo of one with the big Macho plastered on the door, I just thought... man I just want that giant goofy ahh decal on the door of my T/A lol

There used to be another website called "The Firebird Gallery" that was just a website from the late 1990's that was considered hi-tech simply because you could post photos to the internet, they had a whole section dedicated to Macho T/A's that I used to sit there going through and reading for each car they had found, that's how I heard about my 1978 #46, it was posted there in 2007 and saw the photos a decade later, and that started my hunt for that car!

· 3w

Welcome Max. I don't think there are too many Macho TA experts in the world. Honor to have on here in my topic! I think my first exposure to a Macho TA was this one on BAT. But reading through your website it looked like it might be not a real Macho car? Anyways, if I end up buying on I will be all over your site.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1979-pontiac-trans-am-64/

· 3w

This one certainly was, it was a very well factory spec'd car too. This Macho T/A actually had a GM Delco 40 Channel CB Radio as factory equipment, a very rare option for a Trans Am and even rarer to be on a Macho T/A, a couple of Machos had that option. It had a pretty standard DKM options loadout, but it was a somewhat rare colour combo for a Macho. This one was for sale by a private seller in California for what was a pretty extreme price at $70,000, and it did indeed sell to a big American car collector overseas in Bulgaria. The Hooker roll cage was not originally installed by DKM on this car, it was owned by someone who did some racing in it, they had also put Recaro seats in it at one point too. This Macho collector called Jimmy picked this one up years back and cleaned it up with a lot of the original gear and seats, but kept the roll bar in it.

· 3w

😂 That’s great. I would have been pretty thrilled to get a response from Burt too.

· 3w

Thanks for the Registry shout out :)

I'm the editor, and I work to track down all of the Macho T/A's still out there to make sure they are documented and have their histories published. Each one seems to have a great story to tell, and for years I kept saying there wasn't a good database for them. I took up the mantle of responsibility a couple of years ago as I knew where heaps of them were, and the website that acted as a pseudo-registry got taken down and lost to time.

I personally own 1978 #46, that car was delivered to Australia when it was new and converted to RHD. It took me 7 years to track that car down, no one here in Aus believed me when I said I was looking for a car that said "Macho" all over it :P

All Macho T/A's received as standard equipment:
1. Koni adjustable shocks behind all 4-wheels
2. An aggressive tune with a completely stripped and rebuilt factory Quadrajet with the H.O. Racing Specialties kit, rebuilt and recurved distributor and timing advancements
3. A custom DKM designed true dual exhaust with Hooker Competition headers and dual catalytic converters. Compliant for emissions in all states, part of why even though they were sold as used cars to circumvent emissions laws, Pontiac Dealerships in California could still order and sell them.
4. The Macho T/A paint and livery, including an individual ID number

The customer could spec and order their car from the Pontiac factory as they liked, and then they received a second DKM options list to order an additional array of options to spec out their car. Any Pontiac dealer across the network could order Macho T/A's for customers or for their stock, some dealers had ordered dozens of the cars to sell.

If anyone ever gets a lead on a Macho T/A, send them to the registry so it can be documented!

· 3w

Super cool! As a guy that was around in the 70s I don't hate the "macho" moniker. And I love the performance upgrades they made to the 400. Thanks for posting!

· 3w

Well, I learned something new today. I'm more of a prewar guy but the coolest kid in HS drove a 76 Red Trans Am and I always had a soft spot for them. The Macho reminds me of the Royal Bobcat GTOs. Dealer souped up cars. I like the color schemes too.

· 3w

@Maxthe222 Max, are you based in Australia??? Or did you go all the way down there to track a car down? That would be impressive.

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· 3w

@Maxthe222 Welcome! Thanks for the posts. Good to have an expert on here. Most of the time we are pretending to know what we are talking about.

· 3w

@ChandlerFan1929 We had a 77 Black 400 four speed car in our parking lot. It might have been the coolest car we had circa 1981 or so. Had a 75 or so Nova with a built 350 and a four speed. That was a pretty cool car. Things were a bit dry on the cool car front in the early 1980s.

· 3w

That's right, I'm in Australia. The interior might be a bit revealing! I was 18 at working part time at a takeaway shop while studying at university. I was looking at some cool cars to buy while I was at uni, and there really wasn't any brand new cars you could buy that had anything going for them. I looked at Corvettes and found out pretty quickly why they were so cheap, and then I saw Billy Maddison and that scene where he pulls up to his high school in a '79 TATA and I was like, oh man I wanna get laughed at when I pull up to uni in a car like that lol. I started researching what the most collectable and valuable Trans Ams to buy where, saw stuff like Super Duties, Y82's etc, and at the end of one of those Top Ten lists, I saw "...and if you can find one, a Macho T/A is a unique..." and I was like... oh man. I need to find one of those. I came across the Firebird Gallery website, and while I was scrolling through, I just spotted that there was one down here, that was the Trans Am I always wanted to buy. I bought a 1979 Y84 Special Edition since I wasn't having much luck finding that car, but never gave up looking for it.

(edited)

· 3w

It seems like these guys Dennis and Kyle Mecham did a similar “dealer inspired customization” like Howard “Dutch” Darrin did with Packards in the late 30’s out of a west coast Dealership.

· 3w

Somebody mentioned Royal Bobcat in Royal Michigan as a comparison and it is apt. They would soup up the factory Pontiac engines and put Royal Bobcat emblems on the car. Nickey Chevrolet and Mr Norm's comes to mind also. DKM went a little more wild with the paint and stripes but the performance mods were there too.

· 3w

I think that was me. Need to go see if there is a Royale Bobcat registery like one for the Macho TA. Might make a good topic at some point.

· 3w

What is the only thing rarer than a Macho TA? A right hand drive Macho TA.

· 3w

@Maxthe222 Great work on your website. I was reading about the H.O. Specialties TurboFORCE upgrade package. How many cars were actually built with this and were there any 1/4 mile times measured for them?

· 3w

There was a lot more of them built than most people think. It was suggested that there was only around a dozen or so, but really it's more like 50 cars. There was about a dozen in 1978 alone, #69, #100, #103, #178, #180, #199, #202 & #204 are I think most of the turbos for that year. In 1979, there was like 30, and really, a lot of them are still missing to this day. You'd think they'd surface soon!

· 3w

Cool! Never heard of them before. Although a Z28 guy (see my username) always liked the Trans Am, just a tad too flashy for me.

· 3w

Never heard of a Macho TA before but now I think I might want one!

· 2w

Always liked the Trans Am even with the screaming chicken on the hood. I'm a prewar guy but would jump on one of these high performance upgrades cars in a second. Thanks for the lesson guys.