Mazda Familia
car model
The Mazda Familia (Japanese: マツダ ファミリア, Matsuda Famiria), also marketed prominently as the Mazda 323, Mazda Protegé and Mazda Allegro, is a small family car that was manufactured by Mazda between 1963 and 2003. The Familia line was replaced by the Mazda3/Axela for 2004.
It was marketed as the Familia in Japan, which means "family" in Latin. For export, earlier models were sold with nameplates including: "800", "1000", "1200", and "1300". In North America, the 1200 was replaced by the Mazda GLC, with newer models becoming "323" and "Protegé". In Europe, all Familias sold after 1977 were called "323".
The Familia was also rebranded as the Ford Laser and Ford Meteor in Asia, Oceania, Southern Africa, some Latin American countries and, from 1991, as the Ford Escort and Mercury Tracer in North America. In addition, the Familia name was used as the Mazda Familia Wagon/Van, a badge-engineered version of the Nissan AD wagon (1994–2017) and Toyota Probox (2018–present).
Mazda Familias were manufactured in the Hiroshima Plant and also assembled from "knock-down kits" in various countries including Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Colombia, and New Zealand. Some of these plants kept manufacturing the Familia long after it was discontinued at home.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Mazda Familia” is car model. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Mazda, Familia and model, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “car model” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1914618. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1963, 2003, 2004 and 1000.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Mazda Familia”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Mazda Familia primary sources, Mazda Familia archive and Mazda research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Mazda Familia”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Mazda Familia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.