A Kind Hearted Coronet

The 1950 line of Dodges might not have set the world on fire with outlandish styling as the marque would a decade later, but it represents an interesting period in its history, when restraint and sensibility was the order of the day...

- Zack Stiling

There is something really special about America's automobile output in the first half of the Fifties. While not so memorable as the second half of the decade, the earlier designs enjoyed a real elegance, rather than being ‘in your face’ and brash. However, when Dodge revealed its new designs for 1949, their looks proved to be a turn-off for the car-buying public. Rather than elegant, critics turned on the Dodge for being too boxy, dated and plain.

The 1949 Dodges were undeniably smart and good-looking, well-proportioned and understated, but they hit the market at the same time as Ford débuted its shoebox styling, and GM’s offerings were a good deal sleeker, too. There was nothing intrinsically wrong with the new Dodge, its styling just belonged in 1947 rather than 1950. Some efforts were made to enhance its appearance for 1950, with the egg-crate grille replaced by a simplified two-bar design to make it appear wider, while at the rear the number plate was repositioned lower down and new rear light units were designed which sat in the wings, rather than on them.