A 1956 Continental Mark II and 1956 Lincoln....

One design is timeless and the other is the classic "Planned Obsolescence" of the era..

@rich-sufficool 

Rich,  Confused by the comment 'planned obsolescence'   of the era. For me both cars are classic timeless designs. The unique Mark II and the exquisite '56 Lincolns.

In my not so humble opinion the Lincolns were among the finest looking cars of the 50's and even later.

@stanton-lyman Stanton I totally agree.

@stanton-lyman If you want the definition of "planned obsolescence", it was employed by the Big 3 to promote buying a new car every year by at least altering the trim packages and perhaps new tail fins and grills each year so you can always tell when the car you bought looks like last years model. It played into the '50s "Keeping Up With The Joneses" idea that was especially a suburban phenomenon.

Rich is correct. The "Big 3" along with countless manufactures (especially in the "thriving 1950's") employed marketing strategies aimed at branding YOU a loser should YOU fail to buy the "latest & greatest."  Without question, Lincoln designers employed that philosophy. True enough, 1956 Lincoln designs went from "concept to production"  with little change (see the XM-800). Lincoln's 1956 target was Cadillac, and they gave it their all, but they already had '57 designs (a poor re-fresh IMO) on the board.

Continental (a separate make in 1956), however, was designed to incorporate elegance & beauty well beyond 1956; they succeeded. 

@chris 

The '57 Lincoln  was far from a "re-fresh" it was a pure massacre of a uniquely handsome automobile.

@stanton-lyman I agree completely; I used that term lightly.