Postwar European Auto Design: In Praise of Cars With Real Curves

Once again in a few favored places throughout the world [LIFE proclaimed] a man can ogle a new, well-turned fender and sniff the heady redolence that a new automobile’s paint, metal and upholstery distill. After six carless war years and two years of uninspired “face-lifting” some really new cars are on display. Mostly they are European. The top Continental cars shown in Paris and Rome last month were lavish, beautiful and original in design. Although far out of reach for most of the people who viewed them, they nevertheless might well be an inspiration to U.S. manufacturers. So far in America only five real postwar cars have appeared: the Hudson, Packard, Studebaker, Kaiser and Frazer. The long-awaited new cars of the Big Three, GM, Chrysler and Ford, are still subjects of nationwide curiosity.