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Condition
Restored
Drive Type
Rear Wheel Drive
Fuel Type
Petrol
Doors
2-door
Cylinders
8
Transmission
Manual
Color
Blue
Description
I consider this car for one of the most special cars I have ever found for people in my country.
First of all, it is very original with less than 20 000 original miles! Take in mind that this is not another Eldorado or Town car owned and carefully driven by older people. It is a sports car. As you know, usually the sports cars do not live long.…
I consider this car for one of the most special cars I have ever found for people in my country.
First of all, it is very original with less than 20 000 original miles! Take in mind that this is not another Eldorado or Town car owned and carefully driven by older people. It is a sports car. As you know, usually the sports cars do not live long. Most of them end up wrecked and abused. In addition, out of approximately 120 000 Firebirds that came out of the factory in 1979, it is one of the only 4000 with the desirable Pontiac 400 W72 engine and a 4 speed manual transmission.
The best thing about this car is that it is not just a regular Trans am. It was brand new when it was modified by Dennis and Kyle Mecham whose father Evan Mecham owned a Pontiac dealership located in Glendale, AZ. During the late 70s the performance of the new cars in the US was very disappointing, because of the emission standards and high insurance premiums. The car manufacturers had restrictions to produce powerful cars. So Mecham’s solution was the following: the father bought new Trans ams from Pontiac as a dealer, the sons modified them and then the cars were sold as used on the dealership lot. To emphasize on their uniqueness, they named them Macho Trans ams. They started in 1977 by modifying 24 cars. In 1978 they gained a popularity and the number increased to 204. In 1979 it became clear Pontiac will not be able to keep its famous 400 engine, because of the further increasing emissions requirements, so the brothers managed to modify only 98 cars. This blue/silver beauty wearing number 29 is one of them. The exterior of the Macho Trans ams differs by the striking two tone color combinations and a serialization on the front fenders and the rear spoiler. Also a serialization plaque was placed on the central console. A number of technical modifications were done. They not only boosted the power, but also improved additionally the excellent handling of the car. The Quadrajet carburetor was rejetted, the distributor was recurved, hooker headers were added, the mufflers were deleted, but the catalytic convertors were kept. Also adjustable Koni shocks were added on all four corners. Other interesting options were fiberglass hood, Hooker rollbar, Fosgate stereo and etc. An optional turbocharged version was available, but only a handful of examples were built.
Considering how rare this car is, its original condition and low original mileage, that can be traced and proved with documents back to the year 2000, this makes it special. An interesting fact is that at one point the car has been exported to Canada and in the year 2000 it was imported back to the US, when the mileage was only 18665 miles. Now the odometer is showing less than 19500 miles.
Since I like the model and especially the modified Macho Trans ams, I remember how impressed I was when I saw it on Ebay for a first time. Probably it is the most original Macho Trans am in existence. I came upon it again on Marketplace few years later while I was browsing the ads. I decided to send it to a person that I believed will appreciate it. He already was the proud owner of a magnificent 1970 Charger and one of the Carol Shelby personal Shelbys. I hoped he will like its condition and authenticity. And he did. He decided to buy the car. I got in touch with the seller who was a military veteran. Initially it was not very easy to deal with him. He was suspicious which I fully understand. I was someone calling from the other side of the world trying to make a deal and to buy his car. At one point I almost gave up, but I really wanted to see this car in person, so I was persistent. Once the car was inspected and we reached an agreement on the price, the seller was very correct and supportive.
The last difficult moment was when the car had to be picked up. This had to happen during the big fires in Los Angeles and it was located close to them. At one point there was a chance the fires to destroy the seller’s house and the car. But everything finished well and the car left the US.
Two months later it arrived in Sofia and I was finally able to see it in person. It is simply amazing and beautiful.
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