The 1957 Chrysler product line was a bombshell to Ford and GM when it debuted. Chrysler had just brought out new bodies in 1955, and neither of the other manufacturers were prepared for when the 1957 models started to appear. Long, low, wide, and powerful when properly optioned, the lines were graceful, the fins were tasteful but prominent, and compared even to the prior year’s car, they were a generational leap ahead. A popular legend from General Motors claims that at one point, Harley Earl came into Chevrolet exterior designer C.J. MacKichan’s office with a 1957 Plymouth brochure and threw it on his desk, then asked him, “Why don’t you just quit?”

Over time, the Forward Look cars are remembered for their beauty as much as they are remembered for poor quality control and rust issues. Plenty of Chryslers, DeSotos and Imperials donated their early Hemi V8s to the drag racing cause in the 1960s as well. And, of course, our favorite possessed vehicle, Christine herself, lives on as a product of Stephen King’s fertile mind. But prior to all of that we had Disney-esque singing and a man in a suit telling us about the cars.

Seriously, what was up with the singing? I half expected Jiminy Cricket to appear behind the DeSoto..