Michael Abiva and his brother are considered to be a “need for speed” duo. They built a Chevy to feed their hunger for speed. On the main island of Oahu, Hawaii, a place where there hasn’t been a racetrack for almost two decades, these two brothers designed a 1971 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Rally Sport as an overlord of both street and strip.

By no means is their car just a stock, second-generation Camaro. Under that hood sits a 598 cubic-inch BluePrint Engines “Rat motor” that churns out a massive 741 horsepower and 703 lb-ft of torque. They also installed a Tremec TKX 5-speed transmission to a nine-inch rear end. To help the car handle the tremendous power and get it to the pavement effectively, they added frame connectors to increase the chassis stiffness, as well as Caltrac traction bars from Calvert Racing to maximize traction and minimize wheel hop during hard acceleration.

The brothers initially planned to build a dedicated drag car, but with no racetrack on Oahu, they shifted their focus to creating a street-legal machine that could also dominate the strip when asked to do so. Mike, his dad, and his brother used to race in Hawaii many years ago. Unfortunately, the racetrack, closed back in 2006, and it will be another five years until a new race track is built. The U.S. Navy and Federal government just signed over land to Oahu’s local city & county officials for the new facilities. Mike says he will be 60 years old by the time the track is built, but he plans on racing this Camaro at the first opportunity.

This Camaro, riding on Hoosier 325×15 drag radials, has already proven its performance with a 6-second elapsed time in the 1/8-mile at the Barona Dragstrip in San Diego, California. That comes out to an impressive 10-second quarter-mile time, achieved with street tires and mufflers. He wasn’t even pushing the car to its limits with a mild launch and conservative shifting.

This build was a true team effort. Michael credits the help of R.J. and Terri Simrock, experienced racers and car builders from San Diego, along with GH Autobody & Paint, and friends James Rosado, Timmy Boner, Robert Vager Jr., Darcy Aila, and Shane Reid. He also dedicated this project to his parents, who fueled his passion for cars. The Abiva brothers are still looking forward to a racetrack’s return to Oahu. At least until then, this 1971 Camaro Z28 Rally Sport will be a terror on the streets of their Hawaiian paradise and Mike can enjoy his Camaro during local cruise nights, car hops, and late-night drives, where he can blow out some carbon on the freeway.