Mazda 929 4 door sedan front Mazda 929 4 door sedan front
Still known as Luce (and also Cosmo, I think) in Japan, the 929 name continued elsewhere. Nose styling was differnt from both the sedan and coupe though the latter's hidden headlight front was used on a special edition 4 door hardtop late in this model's life.

 

Mazda 929 4 door sedan front quarter Mazda 929 4 door sedan front quarter
This model's lower sleeker styling is squarish in the mode fashionable in the '80s (plus note the two-tone!); the hardtop is much more attactive than the upright sedan.


 

Mazda 929 4 door sedan profile Mazda 929 4 door sedan profile
Perhaps the C pillar styling is a little "forced" in order to incorporate wrapped rearscreen + third side window; but generally it is a reasonable job.

 

Mazda 929 4 door sedan rear quarter Mazda 929 4 door sedan rear quarter
This model was criticised for having less interior room than the previous model (and the next). It seems to me that their are two styling teams at force here, one progressive and one conservative and each get a go in turn; this was the progressive's go!


 

Mazda 929 4 door sedan rear Mazda 929 4 door sedan rear
We eventually got very bored of the wide horizontal banded taillights / flat chopped off deck theme used here, but it was appealing when contemporary. I credit Mercedes with inventing this theme (early '70s S class for example) though it was really only a logical follow on from what they had been doing. Occasionally some aped the horizontal ribbing too (not here) but rarely was this claimed to have a self-cleaning effect as Daimler-Benz had.