The rare Macho Trans Am pulled from 90 Bank Street on its way to the wrecker at Red Bank Recycling Monday afternoon. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
Quien es mas macho? The back end of Macho TA #132. (Photo by Brian Donohue)It started as contractors and borough work crews dug through the head-high layer of junk that had covered the property after thirty years of summonses, fines and court battles had failed to force Poku to abate what neighbors and officials called a growing fire and safety hazard.
As a front-end loader cleared piles of old computers and bins of junk, it revealed a long-collapsed garage containing two battered Trans Ams that had not moved for decades. The cars, along with eleven other vehicles, a pair of motorcycles, and a forklift, were towed to the Borough recycling yard at the foot of West Sunset Avenue. 
The Trans Ams sat between the walls that seemingly held up a garage roof in the rear of 90 Bank Street. (Photo by Brian Donohue)
In Australia, redbankgreen‘s photo of the cars landed in Ioannadis’ inbox the next day. He recognized the white one immediately as one of the just 332 Macho Trans Ams produced between 1977 and 1980.
“Every one of them was individually made,” said Ioannidis (pictured with his macho and matching mustache below). “They were all unique, each one had its own color combination and options combination.”
The cars were purchased off the assembly line by Mecham Pontiac in Arizona. There, brothers Dennis and Kyle Mecham did extensive engine and exhaust modifications to restore the power and performance hot rodders felt had been diminished in newer models by then-newly introduced federal emissions and fuel economy standards.
They were able to circumvent the new rules by selling their modified TAs from their father’s dealership as used cars. They called them “Machos” and numbered each one. 
A perfectly restored 1978 Macho Trans Am, number 11 out of 332. (Photo courtesy of MachoTAregistry.com)
The modifications, Johnson said, “basically doubled the cost of the car, so you pretty much had to be a rich kid or a doctor to buy one.” Still, the Macho TAs sold as quickly as the Mecham brothers could produce them.
And decades later, a small number of hot rodders on multiple continents are determined to save them all.
For the last several years, Johnson and Ioannidis have run MachoTAregistry.com, a collaborative effort to track down and identify every Macho ever made and connect would-be buyers with the ones that turn up in classified ads, overgrown yards, and junkyards.
So far, they’ve documented 170 of them. But Poku’s #132 was nowhere on their radar and seemingly lost to history until last week.
“It’s cool to find the car, but it’s even cooler to get the history behind it as well,” Ioannidis said. “How did it get there? How did this car that came from a dealership in Arizona end up in a garage that fell apart in New Jersey? What’s the story here? Each one of these cars has a really cool story behind it, too, and Mr. Poku is the only guy that can tell us.”
Buying, restoring, and collecting Macho TAs is a labor of love, it seems, but not profit.
Because they’re not as widely popular as the classic Trans Ams, unrestored Machos sell for between $3,000 and $10,000, even less if they have extensive damage, Johnson said.
Restoring them usually costs more than they bring on the market, Johnson added, noting he once spent $50,000 to restore a Macho TA that he sold for $35,000.
“You got a bunch of knuckleheads like me out there going, Oh, man, this is cool, ” Johnson said. “There’s very few people that know what they are and really want them, but financially you’re upside down. They’re not like the Smokey and the Bandit Trans Ams that are worth eighty or a hundred thousand.”
That’s probably bad news for Poku, who now faces the prospect of the borough placing a lien on his home to cover the costs of the massive cleanup. Last week, borough officials also placed unsafe structure notices on the home’s front porch, which appears to be near collapse. 
90 Bank Street, photographed last week. The Borough has since hung unsafe structure notices on the porch.
On Thursday, as crews were completing the cleanup of his property, Poku appeared in State Superior Court in a last-ditch effort to get a judge to halt the operation. In an hour-long hearing, Judge Mara Zazzali-Hogan denied the motion.
Poku did not return an email from redbankgreen seeking comment on the interest in the car. Two phone numbers he listed among his contact information on recent court filings were disconnected.
It is unclear what recourse Poku – or anyone who might want to buy the car – might have to gain possession of it. redbankgreen was unable to gain any clarity on the legal status of the car or the dozen other vehicles seized in the cleanup.
An email sent Monday to Borough Manager Jim Gant and Borough Attorney Gregory Cannon with questions about the laws and procedures was not returned before publication of this story Tuesday evening.
By Monday, Ioannidis, a half planet away, was scrambling to get someone on the ground in Red Bank to save the Trans Am for the multiple potential buyers who had reached out to him.
“Really, we just want to get the car into the hands of someone who actually cares,” he said. “There are heaps of people interested. They all want a macho.”
That afternoon, a tow truck moved the car from the West Sunset lot to Red Bank Recycling, which dismantles old vehicles and sells them for scrap.
This truck, like the other dozen vehicles towed from 90 Bank Street, has not sparked the same kind of interest as the 1978 Trans Am.
Mike Reagor, a Red Bank carpenter and longtime hot rod fan who first sent Ioannidis the photo, says he went to the Red Bank Recycling and offered to buy it for $500 to save it from the crusher.
“I was essentially a buyer representative for the Hungarian guy,” he said, referring to someone who had expressed interest to Ioannidis. “I don’t mind doing the legwork because I’m gonna put some money in my pocket, you know? Like this is gonna be a win all around – I’m going to save the Macho.”
Reagor said his offer was turned down. In the meantime, Reagor says he is confused about the legal issues surrounding the car. He does feel he should be negotiating with Poku, and not the recycling yard.
“Technically, that’s Poku’s car still. “It’s impounded. That’s the way I think about it,” Reagor said.
“You know, unless they’ve legally seized it, which they may have,” the car, Reagor added, “is still his fucking property.”
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331.
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