Family transport - sixties style
We were struck by the sight of this one popping up in the classifieds – a true sixties family car from Japan. The vast mqjority seem to have gone to the rust gods, and so it’s always a treat to see a survivor.
The Familia 800 was built during an exciting time for Mazda. Just six years before, it revealed its first passenger vehicle – the R360 micro coupe (above).
It sold well, reportedly dominating its market segment. But family cars was where the real volume play was. In the years from 1963 to 1971, its output increased from one million passenger vehicles to five.
Up to 10,000 of these are said to have been exported to Australia and Oceania. Of course there were a number of variants, including a wagon.
This example is running the inline four OHV 800 engine (actually 782cc), with a four-speed column-shift.
The seller in Queensland says it’s basically all there and working but needs a bit of attention. It’s on the market for $11,950.
Unique Cars auction results listing