Mazda 700 Prototype

The Mazda 700 Prototype, unveiled at the 8th Tokyo Motor Show in 1961, represented one of Mazda’s earliest moves toward full-fledged passenger car development.

Built around the same rear-engine architecture as the R360 Kei car, it carried a larger 700cc engine—an early sign that Mazda was aiming beyond the constraints of the Kei class.

Though its styling resembled an early draft of the Carol 360 sedan, the upsized powerplant suggested a more ambitious direction: a roomier, stronger compact car. That concept ultimately evolved into the first-generation Familia, Mazda’s inaugural mainstream family model.

The 700 never went into production, but it played an important transitional role, bridging Mazda’s shift from tiny Kei cars to true passenger vehicles.