Mazda Familia

The Mazda Familia is a long-running nameplate used by Mazda for their small family cars or compact cars manufactured between 1964 and 2003, with 10,589,052 sold worldwide. The Familia was marketed under various names, including 1000, 1200, and 1300, 800, 808, and 818. In many markets, however, the more recent Familias were known as Mazda 323. In North America, the names Mazda GLC and then Mazda Protégé were used. In South Africa, it was known as the Etude. The Familia formed the basis of the Ford Laser and Meteor in Asia, Australasia and from 1991, the Ford Escort and Mercury Tracer in North America.

Familias were built in Hiroshima, Japan, although they were also assembled in Taiwan, Malaysia, South Africa, Colombia and New Zealand. The Familia line was replaced by the Mazda Axela in 2004.

(This vehicle will be referred to as the “Familia” throughout this article for consistency.)

1964

The first production Familia appeared in October 1963, and was a commercial two-door wagon called the Familia Van. It was joined in 1964 with a sedan, styled by Giugiaro, and was later sold in other markets as the 800. Both were powered by a 782cc aluminum inline 4 engine.