The celebrated Familia was originally designed to cater to family outings. It began life as a modern van and went on to transform the image of commercial vehicles. In 1960, Mazda was planning to make inroads into the compact passenger vehicle segment and was developing a sedan equipped with a 600cc to 800cc watercooled engine, with the aim of becoming a fullscale automaker. On another front, market surveys indicated that customer preferences were leaning toward a light van with performance and comfort a class above micro-mini commercial vehicles. The company took notice and the focus of the development plans shifted from sedans to lightweight vans. The result was the Familia Van that was launched in September 1963. It came equipped with a 782cc new aluminum alloy watercooled inline four-cylinder engine. Commercialization of this all aluminum alloy engine was made possible by advanced diecasting, shell molding and machining technologies that only Mazda possessed at that time. The Familia Van gained a favorable reputation for its engine and its distinctive taut, linear design. By February 1964, just four months after its launch, the model had climbed to the top of its class with a 44 percent market share.