Nowadays, basic body shapes are strongly influenced by wind tunnel testing. Back then, there was much more shape freedom, the main constraints being packaging dimensions and metal and glass shaping technologies.
To make comparisons fair, the cars pictured below are four-door sedans with notchback bodies. Images are factory-sourced or are of cars for sale.
Although Chevys of the kind pictured here were built in large numbers (191,000), few apparently remain if images in Web search engine results are any indication. Interestingly, Fleetline fastback four-door sedans survived much better. The photo above shows the 1949 grille design. It's fairly simple, but features the fat chrome elements that were fashionable in the USA around 1950.
Publicity photo showing the rest of the design. General Motors' styling honcho Harley Earl liked large-radius curves, and they are evident here.
In my book on styling evolution I cite the 1949 Ford as the end of that process that began in the early 1930s. Since then, there has been little in the way of long-term design trends. Ford's body is more of a pure "envelope" type than Chevrolet's -- most details tightly incorporated into the basic body. A nice touch is the "spinner" at the center of the grille. Absent that and the conforming chrome border, the frontal design would have been visually dull.
The Ford did not share its body with other Ford Motor Company brands, and the A-body Chevy shared only with Pontiac and entry-level Oldsmobiles. But 1949 Chrysler Corporation brands all used variations on the same basic body. Differences were largely in hood length and ornamentation. Plymouth's 1949 grille featured many chrome bars: much more elaborate than Chevy's and Ford's.
I could not find a decent side view of a '49 car, but the 1950 models were identical when viewed in profile. The flow-through fenderline is dropped slightly below the beltline, reducing visual bulk that would have resulted from a high fenderline, slab-sided design. The tacked-on rear fender (it's actually removable) adds further lightless to the sides.
Simple, functional, uncluttered.
Not a good photo ... sorry! Chrysler Corporation cars were quite boxy for 1949. Unlike Chevrolet and Ford, the front fender is not flow-through. Instead, it fades into the front door sheetmetal. Like Chevy, the rear fender is tacked-on, distinct, thereby helping reduce the effect of what might have been slab sides.
The rear quarter view shows a composition of rounded curves on the car's top, trunk and rear fenders. The result is pleasing, but not as "modern" as Ford's styling.
Sides are potentially slabby, but the effect is relieved by the sheet metal being bowed outwards. Further relief is via the sculpted extensions of the tail light housings.
The Plymouth is less-boxy from this perspective where trunk and fender curves provide some softening. Nevertheless, the overall effect is ponderous, unlike Chevy and Ford.
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