Ford chose posh Beverly Hills, California for this introduction to the 1957 Ford, which the Dearborn automaker pitched as “a new kind of Ford.”

The setting for this 1957 Ford clip made us smile. Beverly Hills, one of the wealthiest communities in the United States, is probably the last place on earth company founder Henry Ford would select to roll out a new product line. But as we have seen, his grandson Henry Ford II had very different ideas about how to run the Ford Motor Company. Here the Ford is presented not as smart and practical transportation, Henry the first’s ideal, but, as the announcer proclaims, “a bright new entry in the fine car field.” Indeed, this was “a new kind of Ford for 1957.”

True enough, the Ford was totally redesigned for 1957 with a new “cowbelly” perimeter-type chassis—the Custom and Custom 300 rode on a 116-inch wheelbase, while the Fairlane/Fairlane 500 wheelbase was two inches longer. Other advances included a new a rear axle developed in-house (the famed Ford 9-inch axle; see our feature here) and the engine choices included a 312 CID Y-Block V8 with a McCulloch supercharger that boosted the output to an even 300 horsepower. The ’57 was a winner in the showrooms, and Ford claimed to outsell Chevrolet by a small margin, though Chevy partisans will dispute the totals. (We’re neutral on the issue.) Anyway, here’s how the ’57 Ford looked cruising the boulevards of Beverly Hills. Video below.