About the Macho T/A’s

History behind the Macho T/A’s

Dennis and Kyle Mecham worked together at the family dealership, Mecham Pontiac in Arizona, and upon taking delivery of the new 1977 Pontiac Firebirds, they were disappointed to see discontinuation of the 7.5L 455 V8’s and the lacklustre performance of the once impressive Pontiac 400. Dennis and Kyle took advantage of the untapped potential of the mild-mannered optional W72 6.6 liter V8 by experimenting with carburetor re-jetting, distributor advancement, opening the hood scoops and adding headers backed up by true dual exhausts. These modifications drastically woke up the 400’s, and the two brothers found that there was no shortage of demmand for hot street performance hadn’t been quenched by the oil crisis and lack of support from domestic manufacturers. With Macho being the popular lingo at the time, they settled on the name “Macho T/A”. With the addition of special decals and emboldened numbering, and these cars became beacons of performance for the late 70’s.

Later through the development of the second generation, the brothers would see the declination of the Pontiac 400, the supply of W72 400’s running dry for their zone allotment, and the tightening of EPA regulations. Nevertheless, they still completed special modifications on Firebirds delivered from the factory with the Oldsmobile sourced 6.6 liter 403cu V8 and the Pontiac 301cu 4.9 liter turbocharged motors. To circumnavigate the stringent emissions requirements of new vehicles for the late 70’s, DKM sold these Macho T/A’s as used cars fresh off the lot, as used vehicles at the time did not require the same emissions scrutineering as factory new cars. With the massive increase in demmand, DKM offered more race-centric and higher end options to further improve the cars to the owner’s specifications, such as Koni shocks, handling upgrades, Hooker Chrome roll bars, high-end stereo upgrades, as well as further driveline upgrades.