. . . Nowdays, everything looks almost exactly the same from the year before, and the year before that, and so on.
Back in those days, the vehicles looked almost exactly the same for several years (some 2-door and 4-door styles are shown below):
1949 Chevrolet car 1950 Chevrolet car 1951 Chevrolet car 1952 Chevrolet car "NEW" 1953 Chevrolet car (note the windshield) "Brimming With Beauty" 1954 Chevrolet car (ho-hum) Chevrolet cars made a major change to the body style in 1949 (1.5 years later than the truck change). That car body style was not significantly changed through 1954 (1 year earlier than the truck change). Major car appearance changes between 49-53 were in the grill, bright-work trim, and the one-piece windshield in 1953. Major car mechanical changes were the Powerglide option in 1950 and high-pressure lubrication 235 engine in 1953/54.
Alfred Sloan and his GM designers did however try to make enough year-by-years changes (in appearance) so that owners/buyers would recognize the newer appearance vs the older "out-of-date" style.
