Mazda's automotive plans for the early sixties consisted of growing alongside the Japanese economy. Some of these plants kept manufacturing the Familia long after it was discontinued at home. 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. 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). 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 Europe, all Familias sold after 1977 were called '323'. In North America, the 1200 was replaced by the Mazda GLC, with newer models becoming '323' and 'Protegé'.

For export, earlier models were sold with nameplates including: '800', '1000', '1200', and '1300'. It was marketed as the Familia in Japan, which means 'family' in Latin. The Familia line was replaced by the Mazda3/Axela for 2004. 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 19. Mazda Familia Wagon (BG generation, station wagon version) If you can find a Protege that's been taken care of, I recommend buying it. of new vehicles but I've been using models that plug into the cigarette lighter for many years and they work perfectly fine. I admit that I wish it had the built-in GPS, back-up camera, USB port, etc.

Over all, it's been a great car and I'll miss it when the time comes to change. I know exactly where the car is on the road or in a tight parking spot. Of course, I'm perfectly comfortable navigating now. With my Protege, there is no crease so that took some getting used to. My previous vehicles were all Fords so I was used to navigating using the crease down the hood. Allows us to sit higher in the vehicle and to feel less of the road. I bought seat covers and have a cushion under both front seat covers. It's a sport suspension so you 'feel' the road, which is all the more reason I'd prefer to have higher, better-padded seats. The other thing I dislike is the low seating. Of course, that's only a pain if you have multiple drivers. It's on the passenger's door, so you have to adjust, sit back and check, adjust, sit back and check. One is that you can't readily reach the passenger-side, outer-mirror adjustment knob. In my experience, there are a few drawbacks to the interior. My latest mechanic said he's on his fourth Protege and doesn't care that they have none of today's bells and whistles.

Virtually every time I take it in for servicing, the mechanic asks if I'm interested in selling it. My car's in excellent condition, with low mileage (less than 100,000 kms) and no rust, thanks to walking to work and parking underground all these years. It had about 12,000 kms on it and was exactly the colour I was hoping for (sand/champagne). It was a 2003 model, leased by a company for short drives around the city, then returned for resale a year later. I bought a second-hand Protege from the dealer in 2004.

03 mazda protege carpet