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A lot of cars do still have a beam under the plastic for a bumper, but it just doesn't extend all the way out to the sides of the car like those old chrome bumpers did. My 2000 Intrepid got bumped in the parking lot once, and I noticed a hole in the plastic rear fascia that almost looked like someone took a gun and shot through it, from the inside out. Turns out, that was where the plastic got pushed in and contacted with the edge of the steel beam.
I think Crown Vics might actually still put that steel beam on shock absorbers that can pop back out, but on the Intrepid it's just these metal brackets bolted right to the rear sub-frame, that are designed to bend once, and then be replaced.
A buddy of mine has a 2004 Crown Vic, and the paint on its front and rear fascias has a serious problem sticking. It's been bumped occasionally, both front and rear, and while it didn't do any "real" damage, the paint's peeling horrible on the plastic parts. I'm impressed that the paint has actually held up well on the soft plastic parts of my Intrepid, because it's also taken a few bumps here and there over the years.
Some cars just use styrofoam and this honeycomb pattern plastic stuff under the bumpers, but some of them do still have a real steel beam. As for pickup trucks, some of them might look like they have a nice, sturdy metal bumper, but often they're easily damaged and twisted. Some of those bumpers are actually two separate pieces underneath the chrome plating, so if you hit them right, they snap, right down the middle.
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