The Mecham brothers were selling new cars out of their father’s Pontiac Dealership in Glendale, Arizona, until 1977, when they founded DKM, Inc. to build hot Trans Ams bearing the ultimate ’70s moniker: Macho T/A, and began pumping steroids into the Trans Am.
“At that time, macho was the ‘in’ word in the Southwest. 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?”
With the 455 disappearing in 1977, DKM focused on Pontiac’s W72 400, and began by changing the jets in the stock Quadrajet carburetor to enrichen the mixture, altering the distributor’s curve to hit 36-degrees of advance by 2,500 rpm, opening up the Shaker hood scoop to enhance breathing, and bolting on a set of Hooker Headers and a custom 2-1/2-inch exhaust with a crossover tube and a pair of catalysts, but no mufflers or resonators.
The changes under-hood reportedly added about 50 horsepower to the Macho T/A, and period road tests show the car was capable of running from 0-60 mph in 7.8 seconds, on the way to a 14.29-second quarter-mile at 98.79 mph, a full second faster than stock
Most other options were performance-oriented, including a fiberglass hood that saved an estimated 60 pounds, Corvette disc brakes, a turbocharger, and an oil pressurization system that prevented starvation in high-speed corners. With a starting price of $9,610, over $3,700 more than a stock Trans Am’s base price of $5,889, the Macho T/A certainly wasn’t targeted to the budget-minded enthusiast.
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/08/30/flipping-the-birds-a-collection-of-1978-macho-trans-ams-heads-to-auction/
https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2018/02/08/macho-trans-am
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