Macho TAs are already classified among the rare where
Firebirds are concerned however, some of the Machos built by Dennis
and Kyle were still more rare than their cousins. This is one of them.
What makes it special? Very simply the addition of a turbo unit. If
you remember the Mecham brothers started the whole line of Machos by
adding turbo units to some '77 Trans Ams. The brothers continued
modifying Firebirds in 1978 but for some reason only about 8 turbo's
were made each year including '79 and '80. Rumor has it that only two
of the eight built in '78 are left but this has not been formally
documented. This particular car is a Turbo 400 with the desirable
4-speed tranny. It also features A/C, power steering, power brakes,
Hurst T-Tops, 15x8 snowflake rims, tilt wheel and tilt wheel. An
interesting feature of this TA is that it retained the hood bird. Most
Machos received a special paint scheme that most often did not include
the screaming chicken. Manny Salierno writes:
"Now that we got hooked on these cars, I couldn't
pass up the chance to get my father, Antonio Salierno, a 1978 macho TA
#100 Turbo 4-speed. We had to have it. So as you probably guessed a
week later it was delivered to my door step from California. Its white
and gold with the big bird decal. I spoke to Dennis Mecham and got the
spec's on this car. It has Recaro seats, rear mounted battery, Hurst
T-Tops, Hurst shifter, oil restorer, special edition bird that was
installed by DKM, and the big tire option. This exact #100 is featured
in a hotrod magazine issue, which I found an original copy!! I have
the DKM jacket (seen at top of Lot#1-wm.), DKM badges and a lot of
paperwork including an option and install booklet from HO Specialties,
the company who installed the turbo kits for DKM. I will also do a
complete resto on this vehicle too. I will send detailed pic's as each
project gets underway. Thanks."
Manny and his father recently also purchased the #102 1978 Macho
Trans Am which is not yet depicted here. He has promised pictures of
it as its restored. |