The 80sHERO Book Club: POWER UP! CAR TUNING, 1990...

Gather 'round everyone.. it's time for a story...

What a tale.
The twists. The turns. The character development...



....



No.. this is something hailing firmly from the non-fiction area of a Japanese library.

POWER UP!
CAR TUNING
パワーアップ！カーチューニング
Takao Yazawa, 1990

An automotive performance-modifications guide book of sorts; which due to being written in 1990 Japan, is chock-full of nothing but the most popular platforms and parts: a who's-who of late 80's tuning..

Pre-loved.
I picked this little book up from a BOOK-OFF in Japan last year; an insanely-organized chain of second-hand book stores (and other items, depending on the variation to the name). This didn't quite break the bank at 360 yen....

Split into nine sections, each with multiple parts:
Engine tuning, Turbo Charger Tune, Tuning items, Engine unit various, Suspension tune, Brake tune, Transmission tune, Others, and Special shop guide....
...all with tons of pictures. Joyous, joyous, pictures..

Engine unit various?
Yep, this is the section covering the variety of different engines that tuners would've been playing with in late 80's Japan. Just look at that list: Toyota A's, M's, G's.. Nissan's RB six in early 2litre guise, turbo VG V6's from when they were still sporting the single-cam heads, and the CA18DET... an engine well-and-truly thrown aside by the SR that was just around the corner...

It's an absolute moment in time.

Toyota's 4A-G. The one that has a soft spot in my heart...

I'm in it for the pictures, and they definitely don't disappoint!
Early HKS PFC F-CON with its original packaging, and a HKS intercooler kit...

Blitz Water Injection System..

...what look to be Blitz gauge-mount glovebox infill panels for the A70 Supra and Z20 Soarer...

 ...Racing Beat air filters for your Mazda..

...HKS oils, with the early HKS Sports coloured logo...

Perfect, machined, TOM'S Spirit C3..

 ...an extensive GReddy (Trust) twin-turbo kit to suit Toyota's 5M-G. Unghf.

...what look to be a pair of Brides, ready to hug...

...and a little wheel&tyre tech, on an early AW11 MR2.

Copyright 1990; dated (first print, or this variation) 25th of June 1991, and sold only days more than one year later...

Done.



Now if only I could read Japanese...