Always one of my favorite near lux cars and definitely my favorite Mazda sedan of all time. I came close to buying one several times but somehow never did.

Everyone probably knows the story of how this almost became the first car in Mazda’s proposed luxury division, Amati. It was every bit the equal of the Lexus ES300 of the time. This car deserves some love and even when I see one still running the roads today it still looks good to me.

 

I had a 95 and flipped it over and it looked like someone died . I came out without a scratch. Well made car.

 

i dont see too many of these around. werent these supercharged? i used to have an 03 mazda6 and i could see some of the 6's styling cues i.e. passenger dash, grill, trunk lid

 

There was a Millenia S that was factory supercharged and also included a Miller cycle engine.

 

Good looking sedans for their time, notice the styling cues of the rear? The trunk area borrowed some lines from the FD.

 

I really liked the Millenias styling inside and out, especially the original before the face lift. They were nice cars and handle pretty well but were a bit underpowered. I tried talking my dad into getting one around 1996 but he thought it was too expensive for what you got. I believe the Millenia was going to be the second car sold under the Amati brand in the US with the 929 being the first. It was rumored Amati would get several upscale cars sold in and outside the US like the 929, Millenia, version of the RX-7, 3 rotor Cosmo, and the Mazda Xedos, because of financial reasons and conflicts of interest with other brands Amati never took off. Millenias had some engine, emissions, and brake issues

Mazda had a very nice looking semi upscale lineup in the mid 90's with the Millenia, RX-7, and 929.

 

My mother had one for awhile. It had a handsome profile. However, it was not near the car an ES of that time was. The engine was marred by a slush box that was horrible. Slow and always hunting for gears. There were odd gaps and edges in the interior and it showed where the cost cuts happened. Decent car for the price, though. In the end, however, I'm glad it is no more. That car caused a fire in my parent's garage that the fire marshal and the insurance company investigators traced back to the car's factory security system. No more Mazdas for me. Bad memories...

 

no car is safe from donks


JDM Eunos 800

 

My uncle had a Millenia in the '90s. I never saw the car, but he speaks fondly of it and AFAIK, didn't have any problems with it. He traded it in for a 2001 Maxima.

These things are pretty rare though. I don't remember the last time I saw one, though I don't really look out for them. I'll be I see one tomorrow now that I've mentioned them.

 

Was a pleasant car. But I preferred the stylish 929 at the time.

 

929 was a nice car with a somewhat avant garde interior. But the Millenia looks better today than the 929 does IMO.

 

actually saw a 929 on Wed.. The paint was a little faded but it was a rare site to see one.. I wanted the millenia back in the day but they were priced kinda high from what i remember..

Nice thread... Thanks for sharing

 

I loved the last gen 929 when I first saw it, such a elegant looking unique sedan. The interior was very nice, luxurious, and had a unique design. It was one of the first cars with a solar powered cooling unit when the car was parked though I hear it was not all that effective. Mazda definitely had some nicely designed cars in the early to mid 90's.

 

Funny we have owned two 929s and the Millenia was in the running for my first nice car purchase with the ES, Q45, 2.5 TL and 2.2 CL.....

As speedflex stated, the styling was magnificent in 1995 and has aged very well. 16" wheels were on the S model. The waterfall grill was nice and it had the new Mazda emblem. it had a long wheelbase compared to the ES and more interior room. The interior used a black dash which added a sporty feel and it had the quirky Mazda controls like the 929.

Sadly the "S" was out my range so I was forced to drive the base model a few times which had a Ford I believe 2.5 liter V-6 good for 170hp compared to the 210hp of the "S" Miller Cycle model. The car was beyond lethargic and the tranny wasn't very responsive. It was slower than the ES though it did handle better. The base engine ruined a great car. Funny to see TOked said teh same thing, the tranny/base engine was horrific. The ES was silky smooth compared to both, wasn't even close.

I was also worried about the brand "Mazda" compared to Lexus and the others and boy was I right. The ES is still running and the Millenia is no longer made.

As for history Mazda "Said" the 929 and Millenia were going to co-exist but that only lasted on year, 1995 I think. They canned the 929 after that and teh Millenia became the flagship. Like the 929, a 32-40k Mazds was simply a near impossible sell when you had the ES at the time dominating that segment from Asia.

If anyone has sat and played with a now 15 year old ES vs a 15 year old Millenia the differences are staggering. The Lexus is far better built and holds up better. It was a concern of mine at the time and I'm glad I made the choice I did. We still have the 929 as well and it has been pretty unreliable and has fallen apart compared to the ES.

As for the 929, I (we) loved the swoopy near Jaguar from Asia styling. It was very long, 194" long but the trunk was very small. Room was good all around and I loved the frameless windows like the ES. The car has a 3.5 V-6 (pretty sure its a 3.5) good for 195hp and pulled very strong especially at highway speeds. Handling though was awful, worse than the ES and damn near unstable to me at highway speeds (I mean fast like 100mph). If you feel a Lexus is detached, drive a 929 over 80 MPH

What was cool was the curved wrap around gauges up top seperate from the rest of the dash and in black. The gauges were huge, like a Honda and there was some stitching and real wood inside the car. Fit and Finish on both to me were still behind the ES though the Milly was closer to the ES.

Lovely cars, both at the time.

 

A friend had a black on black Millenia, that was a really nice car