Why did Mazda never paint the hatches to match the car?

 

mass production and saves on paint.

 

PixieStyx may be right but I think it was more a design decision.
Viewed from the side, the rear quarter gains a lot of visual weight when the hatch frame is body color.
The black frame also carries through the line begun with the bottom of the door glass.

 

And black goes with any color

 

All good points

 

so says a Kardashian...(Bazinga!)

 

When the FC was in its development stage, Mazda didn't originally want it to have a frame around the glass. They wanted the hatch to be curved like it is, but seal directly against rubber. This simply wasn't feasible. They found it would have to be extremely thick glass, and would cause the hatch to weigh too much. They found that the thinner glass and frame was strong enough and weighed considerably less. In addition to cost related reasons as stated above, I believe they simply painted it black to make it less noticeable to retain some of the look they wanted it to have.

 

I wonder how heavy the glass is alone. Has anyone weighed it?

 

I did just now, for you. I have the hatch glass from a '91 TII removed from the frame, no wiper. It weighs right at 26.5 lbs. By the way, it's for sale to anyone interested. I have no idea how much shipping would be to anywhere. The defroster shows continuity. I have the frame also but it's got rust.

 

i have seen hatches painted to match..

does
not
look
right

 

Thanks buddy! Good luck with your sale!