BOOK CLUB: Koichi Inouye’s 1960s Japanese sports cars volumes now available in English

Koichi Inouye books

Three Koichi Inouye books about 1960s Japanese sports cars have been translated into English and published as e-books. The works cover seminal automobiles from Japan’s largest automakers, the Honda S-Series, Toyota 2000GT and Sports 800, and the Datsun Fairlady roadster. 

Koichi Inouye - Toyota 2000GTInouye has been a staple of Japanese bookstores for many years, his most famous series being Sekai no Meisha (Classic Cars of the World), a Japanese guide to masterpieces from various auto-producing nations. They were originally published in 1985, a time when classics from Europe and America got the lion’s share of English-language ink. Now, with attention for nostalgics at an all-time high in the western world, the three selected volumes seek audience among a new crop of collectors.

Each title contains detailed year-to-year changes and specifications about the cars in question. Inouye includes some background on each model’s development as well, along with a brief history of the companies the produced them.

Koichi Inouye - Datsun Fairlady RoadsterBut what sets Inouye’s books apart is that he offers driving impressions on cars from a Japanese perspective. Some of the passages have been translated directly from the original Japanese, so while the usage of English may seem awkward at times it actually presents a more authentic insight into the Japanese mind.

At 72 pages each, the books are brief, but they offer a good primer on three pivotal automobiles from Japan’s hugely impactful industry. You can buy them at the Apple iBook or Amazon Kindle stores for $9.99 each.

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8 Responses to BOOK CLUB: Koichi Inouye’s 1960s Japanese sports cars volumes now available in English

  1. Ryan Senensky says:

    great more things I gotta spend my money on lol

  2. J.A.C.K says:

    let me know when they do one about the AE86

  3. GEN2TWINCAM says:

    e-book, schmee-book 🙂
    Any chance of these being released as real books? I’d place an order!

    • Randy says:

      Agreed. Gimme something I can put on a shelf; not something that’ll go “P O O F,” when something goes bad in the e-world.

      • Randy says:

        How about put all three into a “Classic Japanese Sports Cars” single edition? Thirty bucks. It’ll sell.

  4. Kelly says:

    Ommmm so what happened to the Mazda’s?

  5. Datsun Fairlady Owner says:

    $10 for 40 pages? Not really a book. More like a magazine.

  6. Datsun Fairlady Owner says:

    Amazon says it 40 pages on a KIndle.

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