„Pleasure? . . . Full measure! Price? . . . Pleasant surprise!”
This 1952 Chevy Styleline, posing at Havana’s Playa Miramar, still sports full embellishment including fender skirts and wheel covers. Quite surprisingly, Chevrolets of this generation in well-preserved condition are a regular sight on Cuban roads, which speaks for their inherent qualities.
Launched in late 1948, the striking design of Chevrolet’s first all-new postwar lineup made the predecessors instantly look outdated. More than that, these Chevrolets were universally considered being among the best looking GM products. Not surprisingly so, as design supremo Harley Earl frequently transferred design themes of the prestigious brands to the mainstay division of GM. Thus, the 1949 Chevrolet looked like a previous year’s Cadillac in a smaller package. And precisely these „Hollywood looks for a budget price“ made the Chevrolet everybody’s darling. The styling was kept almost unchanged for four years without becoming démodé. Annual trim changes were enough to keep the cars “fresh”.
Along with great styling, Chevrolet excelled with a sound construction and the superb quality of the Fisher built bodies. This engineering and manufacturing excellence allowed Chevrolet to capitalize longer on the same bodies: while the visible sheet metal of the next generation appeared all-new, the underpinnings remained almost unchanged for two more years, until the next milestone would be launched with the Tri-Five Chevrolets for 1955.
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