1956 Plymouth Savoy

“This year, more than ever, the luxurious styling of the new Plymouth complements its superlative performance. Take Plymouth’s rakish new lines, for instance. At the front end, hooded headlights thrust eagerly forward. Body lines are crisp and clean. And the distinctive rear fins mark this car as the fashion leader of its class.”

As usual, the 1950s catalog poetry sounds amazing and seems convincing. Not so much, though, when you compare the “new” Plymouth with the previous model year: it’s the same design, aside from the high “airfoil” tail fins that were added to the rear fenders. Only few would notice another “improvement”: the push-button door handles of the 1955 models made way for novel pull-type openers.

The front end remained unchanged, save for a new grid pattern insert in the center of the grille. This stylistic restraint was remarkable in a time when the competition introduced massive yearly redesigns to make their cars appear “all-new”. 

But all in all, there was no need for dramatic change, as the 1956 Plymouth still looked “fresh”, profiting from the tremendous impact that Virgil Exner’s “Forward Look” design had made in the year before. And behind the scenes, an even more striking next generation of “Forward Look” models was already prepared for launch.