Amid the streams of Yellow Cabs and limos that flow up, down and across the streets of Manhattan, there will soon be swimming some fish that might look out of water: a purple Rolls-Royce and an Aston Martin Vanquish that would be more at home, say, in Beverly Hills.

And that’s the whole point, as Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car opens its first East Coast branch in Manhattan, better known for its subways and foot traffic than convertibles and Hummers. The Marina del Rey-headquartered company’s expansion is driven by the increasing popularity of upscale rented rides in tourist cities.

The rental company’s executives made the decision to open in the Big Apple when it became apparent that its clients celebrities, athletes and corporate leaders were traveling to the East Coast frequently and asked for referrals. There are other luxury rental places in Manhattan, but the Beverly Hills folks wanted to serve their own customers.

“A lot of our clients have dictated to us where we should open,” said Kurt Siejkowski, vice president of marketing at Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car. “It made sense to us to get into New York and enter the East Coast marketplace.”

The branch will be called, in something of an oxymoron, Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car of Manhattan. It will provide a wide range of vehicles to satisfy the taste of every type of New Yorker, Siejkowski said.

New Yorkers have long been accustomed to living without cars.

“People in New York don’t drive,” Siejkowski said. “But they will as long as they don’t have to purchase their own car and insurance.”

Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car opened in 1992, and launched branches in Las Vegas and Phoenix in 2006. The company declined to estimate its revenues.

Reactions to a Beverly Hills sign placed between the East and Hudson rivers are varied.

“New York is a great market for high-end rentals,” said Noah Lehmann-Haupt, chief executive of Gotham Dream Cars, another New York-based luxury car rental company. “The addition of Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car in New York will lend to the overall growth and vitality of the industry.”

But some New Yorkers display that famous attitude when they hear about Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car’s opening.

“Personally, I can’t really imagine why I’d ever need to rent an Aston Martin Roadster for the price of $11,700 a week,” Justine Goodman wrote on Citysearch.com. “But apparently some people do.”