DKM Macho Trans Ams Lot#4

The DKM Macho Trans Am & MR MSE Trans Am
Lot#4

1978 Macho Trans Am #194 of 204

owner: Heath Elmer

Awesome update on this car!! The car did change hands recently and the new owner contacted me. Heath writes:

"I own 78-194. I bought it as you see it, from the second owner. He lived one mile from the old Mecham Pontiac dealership. He had planned on restoring it but lost interest, the front clip was off as to not damage anything when the engine was pulled. Its a 400, 4 speed, solid roof, chrome roll bar, original paint, 59k mile car. It should be on the road soon! I also own Macho Z #6, 350, 4 speed, chrome roll bar, t tops, white with black stripes/dark grey interior. I purchased it in pieces as well, however it does have the original paint and graphics intact."

Previous cars owned:
1983 MSE #21 on this site
1985 Macho #22 Black with grey interior
1986 Macho #20 Brown/gold with tan interior

Thanks for keeping this site up, it gets bigger every time I log on.
Heath Elmer
Mesa, Arizona

Heath has a great collection of DKM modified TAs including a 1979 Macho Z (Camaro) #6, 1984 MR MSE TA #84 (seen on Macho Firebirds Lot #8) and 1985 Macho TA #22.

1978 Macho Trans Am #197 of 204

owner: Tray Powell

This Macho TA is a striking silver with red accents and matching red interior. Options include 400ci topped with a Holley carb, 4-speed tranny, power windows, power steering, power brakes, 15x8 snowflake rims, and A/C. Tray writes:

"I have some plans for modifying this car, motor from butler, tranny from liberty, wheels from Boyd 20 '' snowflakes, complete underside will be chromed plated, etc... But I'm not using any of the stock parts, just in case it ever goes back to stock."

1978 Macho Trans Am #199 of 204

owner: unknown

Macho #199 features a black and gold paint scheme. This Macho is particularly rare because it was one of the few modified with the Turbo option. Not much else is known about this TA at this time.

1978 Macho Trans Am #202 of 204

owner: Cameron Holeman

Yet another nice Macho Trans Am from the Holeman stable. Cameron writes:

"78-202 Turbo. This car is the last car made in '78. I know that a lot of sites list that there were 203. That is wrong, car #203 was converted at a later date."

Here are the options:
400 Pontiac, with H/O racing turbo
4-speed Super T10
Recaro seats added at a later time
Fisher T-Tops
4 wheel disc brakes
Hooker roll bar- Mecham option added at later date.
Dual exhaust with 2 cats, no mufflers
Special horn button- most cars after #110 got the emblem in the steering wheel.

This car has 21k original miles. It came from California and was heavily sun baked. The whole car had to be restored and is coming back together slowly.

1978 Macho Trans Am #204 of 204

owner: Jesse Shaw

According to most Macho experts, including some that have talked to Dennis Mecham over the years, only 202 '78 Machos were built. Two more (#203 & #204) were modified at a later date after the original purchase at the owner's request. This is one of those TAs and the last of the '78s to receive any modifications from DKM. Jesse writes:

"Well, I got the car in 2001 from my father as a birthday gift. He had owned the car for 20 yrs before that. The car is almost all original except for the motor, stereo system, and the wheels. My father blew the motor before I was born and then it was stolen. It now has a 455 Olds that was just put in this year (2005). The car has been in Oregon since its purchase date and as far as I know I am the third owner. There is quite a bit of wear and tear, since it was my fathers daily driver for many many years. Although the car has never been wrecked, it has its minor dents and dings but is in great condition body wise. There is no rust and the car has been garaged always in the winter. It has seen rainy days, but no harsh weather. This car is the very last 1978 DKM Macho TA made. You cannot tell unless you see the inside, because my dad had it blacked out removing all decals. I have no plans of ever selling this car, it will be a part of my family for a very long time. I have many plans for this car, I work in an auto body shop, so I plan to fix the car up back to off the show room floor beauty. I do not plan to put the original DKM decals, but would like the phoenix back on the hood, making it share some similarities with the famous bandit trans am."

1979 Macho Turbo Trans Am #7

owner: unknown

Webmasters Note: The excerpt below was written by the previous owner. The TA has since been sold and I have yet to be contacted by the new owner.

"Here is the story about how I acquired old number 7. I saw an ad in our local trader paper for a 1979 Trans Am, modified, not running - $3,900. I was curious so I called the owner. He said it was modified by some company called "DKM" and he didn't know too much about it. Immediately my ears perked up and I started asking questions like, "Is there anything in the way of graphics on the car?". He told me it said "MACHO T/A" and it had a number "7". I really got interested when he said it also said "TURBO". By this time I was salivating, but I kept my composure long enough to ask what was wrong with it. He said the last time he drove it about 7 years ago smoke was coming out the exhaust so he thought the timing gear had gone out. He admitted he was no mechanic, but he attempted to fix it himself. It never ran again. I asked how soon I could come out and see it and he said "How about today?". "Great!". When I got to the barn where it was stored I saw a dirty, but MINT 79 MACHO TURBO TA with 16,000 original miles. It was gold and had a Doug Nash 5 speed, a roll bar, Scheel seats and all the other DKM goodies. What a find! Again, I kept my composure and ask how much less he would take for a car that obviously needed repairs. He was fairly firm, but would take $3,700 cash. Sold! After rebuilding the turbo and putting the distributor back in correctly (it was 180 degrees off), it fired up on the first try! He had kept the motor well lubricated so it ran fine. After some cosmetic clean-up I had a beautiful and rare TA that is an example of one of the best muscle cars available from the late 70's."

1979 Macho Trans Am #16

owner: Corey Knaebel

Corey writes:

"My dad and I came across my Macho by accident. It was for sale in our local newspaper as a Trans Am. We purchased the car in 1998. I was 15 at the time. It was in good shape but still needed a lot of work. It's equipped with a 400 engine, Borg Warner T-10 4 speed transmission, AC, PW, PS, Power Door Locks, Tilt Wheel, T-tops, Rear Window Defroster, AM & FM Stereo, Posi-track, 15X8 Aluminum Snowflake Wheels. Macho enhancements include a re-jetted Carburetor, re-curved Distributor, Hooker Headers, and Modified Suspension including Koni Shocks, Opened Shaker Hood Scoop and the Macho TA Paint Scheme. It is Solar Gold/Chesterfield Brown accents exterior and Hobnail Camel Tan Interior. It has 71,000 original miles. The first thing we did was tune it up. In 1999 we started the restoration process. The Macho has been repainted with new graphics, new carpet, headliner, and seats recovered. Project was completed and made its first debut at the 2001 Trans Am Nationals in Dayton, Ohio."

E-mail: Corey Knaebel

1979 Macho Trans Am #19

owner: Tom McDonough

Tom writes:

"I found this car on the Internet one Sunday evening from my hotel room while on travel to Chicago. Someone in my hometown when I was a teenager had a 78 Macho, so I knew what it was and its rarity. This car is my first Pontiac and hopefully not my last. The first car I fell in love with was a brand new red 1977 Trans Am when I was 12. It is hard to believe it took me over 20 years from that day before I finally bought my first Trans Am. Included in the pics is one recent photo and four black & white pictures of the car from the December 1980 issue of Thunder Am Magazine. The car also appeared in the April 1980 issue.
This is Macho T/A number 19 of 98 cars produced in 1979. This rust-free Arizona car was originally Mayan Red with a white stripe, but a previous owner painted it red with a silver stripe. It has Dark Carmine custom cloth interior and needs some work, but the clock still works and the seats are in good condition. The car has the original W72 400/4-speed and has 54,800 miles on the odometer. The W72 option required the WS6 suspension and this included the 15x8-inch aluminum snowflake wheels, four-wheel disc brakes, larger anti-sway bars and quicker steering, to which DKM added new front coils and Koni adjustable shocks. DKM also modified the engine including opening the shaker and adding Hooker headers. The dual cat exhaust added by DKM is gone and the car now has a dual muffler exhaust. Thanks..."

Tom McDonough

1979 Macho Trans Am #23

owner: Rick Mangum

This Macho sports the inverse paint scheme of #60 and #29 and it looks awesome. Rick writes:

"1979 Trans Am DKM Macho T/A #23 white with blue trim. Recaro seats/black, black carpet, the rest of the interior is light blue. 403 motor with roller rockers, hi lift cam, alu. intake, Holley carb, Hooker headers, Flowmaster exhaust, Turbo 400 trans, snowflake type wheels 15 x 8 & a set of turbo wheels, Hurst duel gate shifter, 323 posi diff., 4 wheel disc, front sway bar 1"1/4 rear 3/4", HO performance springs in front, 4 KYB adjustable shocks. We are the original owner, my step dad bought the car at Rosenthal Hayman Pontiac in Alexandria, Virginia on Aug. of 1979. I'm interested in establishing the value of my car. Please email what it cost you to put your cars on the road: Purchased date & price, condition & mileage when purchased, money spent to repair or restore, current condition & mileage, appraisals etc. I will post results on my web site. I will also be getting an appraisal on my car & share it as well. This info will come in handy if you have to deal with insurance companies."

1979 Macho Trans Am #24

owner: Dave Miller

A white Macho TA trimmed in red. Unlike most Machos this one retained the screaming chicken on the hood. This one is equipped with the Olds 403ci, Turbo 350 tranny, tilt wheel, A/C, posi-trac rear, 15x8 snowflakes, power steering and power brakes. A red cloth interior matches the red exterior trim. Owner found!! Dave Miller writes:

"Jimmy, Love your web site. It helped me during the purchase of #24. As you know the car was on E-Bay and I really did not pay much attention to it because I did not know the history of the MACHO T/A at all and I thought it was a nasty color combo. After some research I had My friend in Mesa, AZ call the owner, as it turns out he lived about 2 miles from the car but had never seen it around town.
We knew the car was ugly from the PICS, but I gave him the go ahead. After seeing the car in person and then driving it, Ray (my friend) called and said this is a great car and drives like new. OK IM in the Florida Keys the car is in Mesa, I told Ray take $3,500 cash and make a deal, The car came home that night.
I was very happy when the car was delivered to me and I found it was completely UN molested and original with a build sheet, even the AC and clock are working. The color is badly faded burgundy and white with a red int. She handles like go cart and really drives out nice. The car is going in to the paint shop in the next month, I will fwd PICS when she is completed.

I will send you pics of my other T/As:
1976 white on white 400 auto, I just finished the engine 461 CI I love it. She looks all stock the only give away is the intake and the spacers under the stock valve covers. Until you start it anyway.
1976 black on black 455 4spd all stock and unmolested w/ original paint."

Take care
Dave Miller

1979 Macho Trans Am #29

owner: Randy Samuel

A new addition to the Macho section this one is owned by Randy Samuel and sports the same paint scheme as #60 below which I think is cool. Its just stunning to look at. Check out the mileage, the NOS bottle in the trunk and the original options sheet (last image) that shows the Macho additions cost about $3500 for a grand total of over $13k for this car!! Randy writes:

"1979 DKM no.29 with 18,170 original miles. I bought it with 11,000 in 1988. Changes from new include cam/lifters, manifold, Holley 670cfm avenger, 391 rear, Nitros [not used], Recaro seats. I have all the original parts to restore it back to DKM original status. No dings, no rust and its the original paint."