Welcome!
Welcome to the DKM Macho T/A Gallery! This website aims to comprehensively catalogue all the remaining and missing Macho T/A’s.
Welcome to the DKM Macho T/A Gallery! This website aims to comprehensively catalogue all the remaining and missing Macho T/A’s.
Owner: David W.
Interesting history behind this one, 1978 #151 was apparently reportedly wiped out in 1982 in a car accident in Phoenix, Arizona back when Duane B. had owned the car. After their Macho was totalled, they had ended up buying 1978 #140 in February of 1982. So for a while, #151 was on the K.I.A list. However, it had popped up again in the early 2000’s when Wesley S. had found the car in poor shape, and had begun restoring it. The original driveline was apparently destroyed, and is now powered by a heavily built Pontiac 455. After Wesley had finished restoring the car, it had made it’s way to Trans Am Specialties Florida, where it was then sold again, and is now under the current ownership of David W., who proudly represents the car at local shows!
Owner: Chase C.
The curious case behind the Macho T/A of Chase started back in 2005 where he traded a Honda motorbike for 1978 #153 from the 2nd owner, his old neighbour David. When he had got the car, it was in a tired state, with a layer of blue paint over the original Platinum Poly silver paint underneath. Chase is the third owner, and the neighbour he had gotten the car off advised original owner bought it and sadly passed away soon after he got it in a military or air force accident. His widow had sold the car to David when it was barely a year or two old. This one may have originally had Recaros, but at some point, the front seats were swapped with blue seats from a completely different T/A that happened to have still had a buildsheet from another similar car. #153 still had the original buildsheet attached as well, so he’s gotten two buildsheets for the price of one. Chase has since stripped and repainted the T/A in the factory silver, and the numbers matching 400 W72 and 4-speed have been fully rebuilt. The interior was completely re-done in deluxe vinyl black, but Chase is still working on this T/A and plans to have the Macho livery put back on as well as having the interior re-done again properly. This car is very special to Chase’s family, as he took all three of his kids home from the hospital when they were born!
Owner: Chris L.
Chris L. had owned Macho 178 #154 for some time, but a few years back he had listed the car up for sale. It appeared on Barnfinds.com a little while back, and appears to have successfully sold to a new owner. This one looks like it was recently restored with an extremely clean engine bay.
Owner: Don F.
Don has reached out to the registry via the contact form to share some photos of 1978 #159. He is currently restoring this Macho and currently has the interior out. It appears to be a factory Chesterfield Brown/Solar Gold car with the WS6 / W72 400 combo.
Owner: Kurt B.
Kurt has owned 1978 #160 for over two decades, and had bought it in August of 2001. He advised he was the 5th owner of the car, and it retained the original 400 W72 / 4-speed driveline. This one is Chesterfield Brown with deluxe Camel Tan interior, and the Macho stripes were left off when it was repainted. Kurt plans on adding the stripes back, and the car is very well documented with all the receipts dating back to 1991.
Owner: Jeff S.
Jeff was a bit envious of Chris P’s Cameo White/Mayan Red Macho, and thought to himself he should get one of his own. Well, 1978 #168 popped up on Craigslist on a Friday afternoon back in 2021, and drove it home from the 2nd owner’s home in Phoenix, Arizona 9:00AM the next day! It’s a 400 W72 / TH350 3-speed automatic in excellent original condition.
Owner: Bill G.
Many people remember this one from the YouTube video a pair of previous owners had uploaded almost two decades ago. This has to be one of the most photographed Machos! There’s a photo of it fresh on the Mecham lot next to one of it’s twins, then a great polaroid taken by one of the original owners in 1985! Jimmy Macho had scored this one years ago, a lot muddier than it’s even been since! Kath & Ken (It's Nice, It's Different, It's Unusual!) had gotten this car in 2008 from Dennis R, another Macho collector who had gotten it from Jimmy Macho. At the time, they had picked it up with 71,000 miles on the clock, and really broke it in with a 700 mile trip home to Virginia without a hiccup! Years down the track, the original deluxe Carmine Red cloth interior was replaced with vinyl, Jimmy the Dentist ended up with this one, and when he passed away, it went to a R&S Auction, where Dennis Mecham was photographed driving it down the auction block! Another Dennis bought the car and a few years back, had taken it to a different dealer, where Bill G. then bought it.
Owner: ???
We have one fuzzy photo from some time back, 1978 #172 was Cameo White/Mayan Red with Carmine Red interior. Not much else is known about #172 at this time.
Owner: ???
1978 #173 is a Starlight Black/Mayan Red on Carmine Red deluxe velour cloth interior Macho with Fisher T-Tops. Jim Y. had some awesome history on this one he wanted to share! A good buddy of his, Rick F. was the original owner of #173. Rick and Jim went to the same high school as Rob, and apparently they all had their own T/A’s back then! Apparently, Rob had flogged Rick in a 1979 T/A, and that was enough for Rick to pull the original 400 W72 and put in a heavily built late 60’s 400 Pontiac in and some Keystone Classics with new BF Goodrich tyres. It was originally a 400 W72 / TH350 3-speed automatic. Jim has a lot of stories to tell, as back then he had a 1969 Camaro (I know, right?) but back then, they went everywhere with #173. They did everything, they remember getting donuts for the auto shop teacher in that T/A, date nights, cruise nights, racing up and down the canyons, Friday night high school cruise nights at Bonneville raceway, you name it. Rick traded the T/A in for a campervan years later, and the two drifted apart to raise their families. Jim has since picked up 1979 #80, but nothing can replace 1978 #173 for them. Back in around 2006 Rob Thomas had found the car and sold it, and they were unfortunately a day late. They both talk about how much they want to get the car back, but alas, from what I’ve found, it’s a long way away, and is apparently in the Netherlands! I’ve reached out to some of the European Macho owners to see if anyone recalls where it may currently be, as they’ve both expressed great interest in getting it back home.
Owner: John H.
Barry found this goldie out in Georgia, but the gold didn’t last too long, and it has now been painted Starlight Black with a re-done deluxe Camel Tan interior. When he picked it up, it had a 1975 Pontiac 400 L78 engine in it, original motor was apparently long gone. Barry had a W72 engine built and placed in. It was originally an L78 400 / TH350 3-speed automatic. It was since repainted again in Starlight Black with Martinique Blue stripes, and is now owned by John of Second Gen Graveyard in Tennessee.
Owner: ???
Not much information on 1978 #176. It was for sale in Fresno, California, and then later popped up on Craigslist again in the San Francisco Bay area after the owner had the car validated with Rob as a real Macho. It hasn’t surfaced again in several years.
Owner: ???
What is it with the Macho Turbo T/A’s having the hottest combos? Rick M. owned in this car in the 1980’s during his high school years. He had sold it to a friend of his, and he had checked in with them about a decade ago, and they still apparently owned the car. This guy has apparently had it in storage for the last 25 years, and also added a Hooker roll bar and Recaro seats. If those Recaros are trimmed to match that very rare deluxe 11N/74B Carmine Red/white two-tone interior, that’s going to be one class Macho Turbo. A photo surfaced from a FB group a few years back with this one, but it looks like it’d unfortunately been modified a bit. Rick mentioned that that 3rd owner’s nephew mentioned the car may have made it’s way to Arizona, or it may be #9. I think the double hood bird suggest it’s this one. This is one I hope to get an update on this one soon.
Owner: Bill G.
Ahh, the Scorpion! So, goofy as it may look, back when this one was new, it was sent to Las Vegas, Nevada, and was done up by Barney's Corvettes to have this body kit installed, and it was actually a bit of a popular body kit you could order back then. Actually, you can still order these Scorpion kits now! This one was originally a Solar Gold/Chesterfield Brown Macho originally, but after it uhh… gained some weight in fibreglass, it had a color change. Underneath all that bog lies a H.O Specialties Turbo set up on the 400! Jimmy Macho picked up this one about a decade back. Unfortunately, it no longer retains the original engine block, but Bill G. has since then picked up this one and commenced restoration on it. It looks like he may be ditching the extra long front nose, so the Scorpion may have a standard T/A nose cone on it soon.
Owner: ???
Another Macho Turbo, 1978 #181 popped up on eBay back in 2021, and has since sold. No one has reported to have bought it, so it’s not clear where this one is now. The seller at the time advised they had owned it for 5+ years, and it was apparently one of the Macho Turbos. Mike R. had reportedly bought this one back in the early 2000’s in Crowley, Texas and was in the middle of a restoration. He advised it was a Solar Gold/Chesterfield Brown Macho, and he had found it listed for sale on the “Thrifty Nickel”, which I think was a Texas online classifieds. The guy he bought it off was only 17, and his parents were making him sell the car due to excessive speeding tickets!
Owner: Team Theogon (?)
Manny the Adidas Baller spotted this one about two decades ago tearing up a course up in New York at the Hamptons Concours d'Elegance (ouh, comme c'est chic!) and hopefully punishing some Euro-Spec cars on the track. It was apparently run by a race team called Team Theogon, headed by Theodore G. This one was loaded for bear, with the Doug Nash 4+1, the original 400 W72 stroked out to 461 with alloy heads, heavy duty oiling system, roll cage, subframe connectors, fibreglass hood, and the rest. Apparently, this Macho had a few tours of duty across the country and over multiple tracks too!
Owner: ???
I haven’t seen this photo before, 1978 #190 was spotted at possibly a gym (or car dealership?) next to a relatively modern Mustang, so this photo can’t be from too long ago. Joel B. sent in these photos from when he owned this one back in the day. Or, at least he thinks he did as he can’t really make out the numbers! But the photos seem to be the same car, a Fisher T-Top 1978 Macho in Cameo White with Martinique Blue stripes and a three digit fender number.
Owner: Gary C.
Maybe it fills the hole in his heart his old E-Type left, but Gary C.’s kept #192 in pristine condition. This one is in Solar Gold/Chesterfield Brown with the snazzy as always WS6 Snowflakes.
Owner: Ken K.
Ken K. had sent in these photos about two decades ago, and explained that 1978 #193 survived in excellent condition with original paint, however, the paint was a little faded from being in the sun for a little too long. It features the original 400 W72 and a 4-speed manual with only 46,000 miles on the clock. The thing is, this was Ken’s dad’s car from decades prior, and he had spent years trying to find it! When his dad had sold the car, it was in perfect shape. He found it a little sun faded from sitting in the previous owner’s driveway, but he was happy to bring the car back into the family.
Owner: Jimmy’s Speed Shop Jr.
Heath had found 1978 #194 just a mile away from the original Mecham Pontiac dealership in Arizona under partial restoration by the second owner, who didn’t get around to finishing the job. Heath had gone ballistic on this one, and fully decked out DKM #194 with a stroker Pontiac 400, significant brake upgrades and plenty of power. It had original paint and 59,000 miles on it at the time. Jimmy G. the dentist liked it so much, he bought it off Heath. After reading a few of these entries, you might have picked up that Jimmy G. passed away, but his son still has #194. Apparently, he blew the motor on this one, but Jimmy Jr. still drives this one around, and had driven it to and from his wedding! Congrats Jimmy Jr, I’m sure your dad would’ve loved to have seen you drove it home on your special day!
Owner: ???
I don’t have too much information about 1978 #196 right now, but it looks like it was bought by John Kraft, restored, and sold to a new buyer. Hopefully we hear from them soon to update this entry.
Owner: Tray P.
Tray picked up 1978 #197 a few decades back, and had plans to undergo some major modifications, including another Pontiac engine from Butler Performance, a new transmission from Liberty Gear, Boyd 20 '' snowflakes, and even talked about plating the underneath of the car in chrome? I don’t know if any of that happened as we haven’t seen this car again, but in the photos #197 looked to be in really nice original condition except for the console plaque, that looked a bit… different. He did mention, that all the original equipment was going to be safely stored with the car to ensure it could be returned back to stock if need be.
Owner: Barry Johnson
Ok Barry, you can paint this one black! Barry picked up #199, a factory Starlight Black/Solar Gold Macho Turbo T/A. Some of the earlier photos show a great picture #199 flexing it’s Turbo 400 power on it’s older brother #146’s 180HP L78 in Rob’s driveway! That being said, the original 400 Pontiac from #199 might have blown up some time ago, and was replaced by a late 60’s Pontiac 400. Barry took #199 to the best, and Turbo Joe at Turbo Trans Am Performance in WI has been building Barry a correct W72 replacement block that’s going to have the RayJay Turbocharger put back on top.
Owner: CH?
#202 is a Macho T/A Turbo that was apparently fried in the Californian sun before it was rescued from the previous owner with only 21,000 miles on the clock! This one apparently still has the original 400 W72 with a H.O Specialties Turbo kit, and a 4-speed Borg Warner Super T-10. It also had a Hooker roll bar and Recaros installed by DKM too, as well as 4-wheel disc brakes. It was undergoing major restoration back in 2004, and hasn’t been seen since. I’m interested to see if the 4-wheel disc brakes were added by DKM or at a later stage, and just interested in general to see what came of this car and the mysterious CH.
Owner: Jesse S.
A lot of people think that there were only 202 or 203 Macho T/A’s made in 1978, and well… it’s sort of right. Jesse owns 1978 #204, a Macho T/A that was converted a couple of years after the initial run of 202 Machos that were done factory fresh from Pontiac. Jesse explains that he had gotten #204 back in 2001, and his father had owned it for 20+ years before that. Before Jesse was even born, the original motor was blown, and while it was out of the car awaiting repairs, was stolen, so unfortunately it is now powered by a 455 Oldsmobile engine he installed in 2005. Apparently, it’s been in Oregon since it was completed by DKM, and Jesse plans on keeping the car within the family as it had been for the decades prior. His father had painted over the Macho decals, and Jesse planned on putting a standard Trans Am phoenix decal on it to make it similar to a Smokey and the Bandit clone. It appears to have been a factory Starlight Black with deluxe velour Camel Tan interior.
