Chrysler Corporation Postwar Front Ends

Chrysler Corporation brands in the immediate post- World War 2 era (model year 1946 through the first part of 1949) were facelifted versions of a 1940 basic design.  Although there was substantial inter-brand sharing of most structural components, there was some variation.  That was discussed in my post "Postwar Chrysler Corporation 4-Door Sedans - Profile Comparisons" here.

The main structural variation was for the Plymouth brand, and it is difficult to detect.  In that post I stated:

"Plymouth's postwar facelift did not include the extended front fenders found on the other brands.  Aside from that, the body from the cowling aft is essentially that seen on the cars below.  But not exactly. Plymouth was Chrysler's best-selling brand, competing against Ford and Chevrolet.  So it needed to be more in line with those in terms of weight and price.  Furthermore, Chrysler could afford to invest in the needed tooling adjustments.  The result was that Plymouths were slightly modified abaft of the B-pillar: narrower rear passenger doors, shorter quarter window, slightly shorter trunk.  This seems to have been accomplished a minimal amount of totally new tooling."

Today's post deals with front end similarities for Chrysler brands.  Of course, grille themes differed because brand identity was mostly established by a car's "face" in those days.  Given those differences, I look for similarities in underlying components that served to minimize tooling costs.

Images below are of cars listed for sale, unless noted oherwise.

Gallery

1948 Plymouth Special DeLuxe Coupe
As mentioned, Plymouth was the Corporation's entry-level brand.  For that reason, its grille isn't very fancy.  What we need to note here are the opening (pretty much defined by the narrower horizontal bars) and the placement of the parking lights and other small details.

1947 Dodge Custom Coupe
Next up the Chrysler brand hierarchy was Dodge.  The hood cutlines on the sides are mostly the same as on the Plymouth.  The grille treatment covers more area, but the opening is probably the same.  Parking lights are larger, but are placed the same distance below the headlights.  Similar chrome strips flank the headlights.

1948 DeSoto Club Coupe
Again, hood cutlines seem to be about the same.  Headlights are moved slightly towards the car's centerline, and are higher.  (See the linked post for a side view comparison of front fenders.)  Parking lights are again below the headlights.  The grille's shape is more organic that architectural.  The opening remains between the headlights -- those vertical bars under the parking lights are applied to fender sheet metal.

1946 Chrysler Windsor - BaT Auctions
The top-of-the-line Chrysler.  High fender fronts like DeSoto's, but the headlights are closer to the sides of the car.  Parking lights are also moved toward the edges.  (The parking light housing at the left and related chrome trim are missing from this restored car -- so focus on right part of the image.)  The architectural grille is wider than the opening.  Note that the hood cutlines are different from those on the other brands.