Today was a good day. A site member stumbled upon this Macho which was previously on the dead Macho's list and found that its still alive and well after all still residing in Phoenix, AZ. No other information is known about the car. Cameron writes:

     "Jim, I was in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago and pulled into the parking lot of a gas station and found my old car parked with no tags. The car is still alive, but changed so much. When I had the car about 12 years ago it was original. I thought I would send pictures to confirm that its still clinging to life support."

Cameron L. Holeman

 This Macho wears a silver and black paint scheme. Its known to have the W72 option 400 (220hp), auto tranny, deluxe interior, and T-Tops. Reportedly its a low mileage TA. The car recently changed hands and the new owner sent me the following:

     "This vehicle is in excellent shape, it drives as if it were new with no rattles or poor qualities. This is a very interesting car for us as we have owned over thirty Corvettes and currently own 7 different Corvettes which include 4 different 67 Corvettes, 2 coupes and 2 convertibles. I would appreciate any information you could give us on this Macho or any others. I think your website is wonderful and has been very informative especially for someone that knows very little about Trans Ams."

 There are three known '78 Black and Red Macho TAs with this paint scheme. For a long time we had two of the three here in the Gallery and now, thanks to Rich, we have all 3. A friend of Rich writes:

     "I noticed on your site you mentioned that 118 was the last of the Black and Red Macho T/A's and you didn't have it on the site. My buddy owns #118 and he has been asking me to promote the car. His name is Rich Olivia and he lives in Marlboro NJ. He has modified the car highly over the last 15 years or so he has owned it. It now has full Hotckis Suspension, a 500+hp 455 and 700r4 transmission with 9" rear. It was built as a road racer and show car.

Attached are pictures of the car. I can send you more information if you need. Since his sight is failing, he asked me to represent the car on the Internet for him since I have been involved in the Firebird gig for over 18 years myself with a 1980 Formula Firebird project in the works. Thank you and let me know if you need anything else."

~ JT ~
JT's Restoration Services
Aberdeen, NJ
732-673-2347
www.jtresto.com

#121 recently came up for sale. I don't know if someone bought it but I hope they did and hopefully a restoration will follow. As you can see it has been sitting for some time and certainly needs to be restored. If it did sell, hopefully the new owner will contact me...

Wayne Harmon owns this Brown and Gold Macho TA. He also owns '78 #87 which can be seen at the top of the page. You can also see it in the garage in the 2nd pic. I guess the hardest decision he makes everyday is which one to drive. Wayne writes:

     "Here is my other '78 Macho #123. It has a 450hp 455 with a 150 hp shot of nitrous, Th350, 3:23 10 bolt rear end, roll bar and Nitto drag radials."

Wayne has promised me new pics of the #87 car and I hope to get better info on both!!

#126 recently came up for sale. I don't know if someone bought it but I hope they did and hopefully a restoration will follow. As you can see it has been sitting for some time and certainly needs to be restored. If it did sell, hopefully the new owner will contact me. This is an unusual version of the '78 Macho TAs in that this is a Silver Anniversary Edition. Only 4 Machos were made with this package and all were built the same:

     Silver Paint Scheme with Black Stripes and Hood Bird
     Black Deluxe Cloth Interior
     T-Tops
     A/C
     Power Windows
     400c.i. engine with Auto Trans
     WS6 Handling Package
     "Silver Anniversary Edition" decals on the Sail Panels

This Macho is in pretty bad shape and the pics are terrible, but, it proves that it hasn't been hauled off to the junkyard yet. It came up for sale recently. Rumor has it the owner wanted $5500. Hopefully someone will pick it up and restore it. I think the silver and red paint scheme was one of the better ones used by DKM. If your curious look through the rest of the '78s. I think there are at least two other '78s with the same paint scheme on the site that are in excellent shape.

I recently heard from another Macho owner that tried to buy this car that the VIN on this car did not match up to the VIN for #137. Rumor has it, the car met its demise somewhere in New Mexico. It appears the console from that car was transplanted into this one to help create a clone. I'm going to add #136 to the DOA list until someone can prove otherwise. I'm going to leave these pics and these comments up for another 30 days or so and then delete this entry.

This stunning black and red Macho Trans Am is just an amazing TA and could possibly be only one of only four Machos with this paint scheme. The car was recently sold to a new owner and while I have contacted him he hasn't yet agreed to provide his name or new pics. In fact just recently he put this Macho and '79 #24 up for sale as a pair. He runs a website that features those two Machos and a couple of others he's working. You can see it at www.machotransam.com. I've requested permission to post his name here for the Machos that he owns and for pics of all 4 or 5 that he owns. Hopefully he'll agree. The information below was provided be the previous owner:

     "The Macho came with major original receipts, some previous owner notes, custom car cover, and DKM Macho racing jacket dating back to 1978. It is 1978 Macho Trans Am #140 with a W72 T/A 400 motor, a Borg Warner 4-spd transmission with a DKM Hurst competition shifter, 4:10 gears in the rear end, WS6 suspension, and 15x8 aluminum snowflake wheels.
It is Starlight Black with Mayan Red body accents and Carmine interior, one of only three that my research has identified with this paint scheme (#118, #140 and #173). It is a numbers matching original vehicle (with the exceptions of (1) front seat covers, headliner, Holley street dominator aluminum intake manifold, 4.10 rear end gears, mufflers instead of catalytic converters, oil filter relocation kit, and radio) with other major work being the correct paint (including colors and schema) and T/A emblems that were redone 5 years ago. The DKM #140 car began life in Arizona and has had 5 owners. It was originally purchased from Larry Miller Pontiac in July 1978. At 21,000 miles on the odometer, it was repossessed in February 1982, and sat until June 1984. Duane Bautch, of Phoenix, Az then purchased the car after his DKM #151 was totaled in an accident. Duane drove the car regularly until July 1988, after which it was stored for 11 years. At 48,900 miles, Duane then sold the car to Paul Raffaelli, who transported it to Weston, FL in March of 1999. At 51, 345 miles, it was then resold to Tracy Pruitt, who transported it to Tampa, FL in June of 2002. At 52, 285 miles, I then purchased the car in November of 2002. At its current 54, 685 miles, it still has a totally rust free body and, as observable from the pictures, is still in awesome shape. Mechanically, it runs very strong with that heavy, big-block sound. It stops people and turns heads everywhere it is driven. The paperwork has been augmented with the full data package from the Pontiac Historical Society, including a laminated copy of the window sticker."

Webmasters note: It is interesting to note that Paul calls out 3 TAs including his that should have this paint scheme for the '78 model year. Since Paul provided me this information a total of 5 '78s have surfaced with this paint scheme and all 5 are located here on the site. Currently the Machos wearing this paint scheme are #104, #118, #140, #173 and #193.

After only one day on the site the owner of this special Macho TA has already contacted me. What are the odds. Loren writes:

     "Hi, the Macho T/A 142 belongs to me. It has been restored and is almost done. This is the car Dennis Mecham took home for his self and his wife, as he states in HPP Magazine, it is the only white one with black stripes and silver pin stripes made in 78. It has a 400 with auto trans 342 posi, it has the concord stereo and 250 watt Fosgate amp. With Fosgate punch controls on the console which was an upgrade from the 100 watt system. It is also loaded with pw, pl, tilt, rear defrost intermittent wipers, power trunk, deluxe interior roll bar. Here are some pics of the car on the show room floor at Mecham Pontiac when new and pic from the 80's and a pic of a few new Machos on Mecham's lot in 1978 and a pic of a DKM jacket. I will send more pics when the final touches are completed."

Thanks,
Loren Garrigus

This Macho Trans Am features a black and gold paint scheme. Its equipped with power windows, power door locks, A/C, rear defrost, tilt, Cruise, Fisher T-Tops, 15x7 Snowflake rims, a 400c.i. and TH350 transmission. The hooker header decal installed by DKM can still be seen on the air cleaner base. Not much is known about this car at this time.