The post-war years represented a new beginning for America. Our troops came home to a grand welcome in 1945, and it was a wonderful time. What was learned in combat was applied to the many advances in automotive technology, with automobiles changing significantly between 1946 and 1960. The most important change was the advent of the unit-body automobile, a monocoque-constructed unit where the body and frame were welded into an integral, lightweight cage. Chrysler coined the name "Unitbody" to describe this new technique.
Ford's answer was the Falcon. Check out the sidebars below to glean the history.