My Favorite Ride: Phillip Morris, Johnny Roventini and Mike Piskos' red 1965 Ford Mustang

Mike Piskos was a high school senior in 1979 when his dad bought him a car, a burgundy 1965 Ford Mustang coupe with an automatic transmission and a 289 Windsor V-8 engine.

He drove the iconic American car through 1983, when his dad stumbled upon another Ford he thought they should buy. Piskos sold his graduation gift and his dad chipped in the rest for the purchase of a fire-engine red 1965 Mustang convertible.

Nearly 40 years later, Piskos still has that car.

"My father, George Piskos, was moving from Illinois to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for a job and was house hunting," the son recalled. "The gentleman we bought the car from was retiring and was selling his house, and the car. Dad passed on the house, but bought the car."

Last week's My Favorite Ride: Bloomington's rare Panoz AIV Roadster

The man worked for a defense contractor and had purchased the car in Washington D.C., and it had moved with him when he transferred to Florida and then California.

When new, the car was leased by the Phillip Morris Tobacco Company. Piskos has paperwork documenting the company paying for an after-market air conditioner installed on the car.

"It's our understanding from the owner we bought the car from that it was leased for Johnny Roventini, who became well known in early television advertising as 'Johnny the Bellboy' in Philip Morris ads," he said.

The story goes that Roventini, at 4 feet tall, was a bellboy at the New Yorker Hotel when he was discovered in 1933. Roventini would announce by page, "Call for Philip Morris," which became a standard line in the cigarette manufacturer's advertising campaigns.

Johnny the Bellboy wore a traditional red uniform and promised Philip Morris tobacco customers "better taste, finer flavor and the perfect smoking experience."

In 2005, Piskos' parents downsized and moved back to the Midwest. He took full ownership of the old Mustang and brought it with him to southern Indiana.

He soon joined Bloomington's Cruisin’ Classics car club, where he's vice president. Anyone attending local car shows around Bloomington has likely seen the Mustang Piskos and his dad went in on four decades ago.

The car is pretty much as it was new, except for maintenance, upgrades and a few major repairs over the years.

"Other than age-related refurbishments, such as repainting, replacement of the convertible top and the motor and transmission being rebuilt, the car otherwise is original," Piskos said.

This isn't the first time the car has been featured in My Favorite Ride. Back in the spring of 2015, a column mentioned that with the advent of warm weather came the return of classic car shows.

I mentioned going to a Thursday night Hardee's cruise-in and seeing so many red cars. Longtime readers know red isn't my color. Parked in the lot "was everything from a 1965 Mustang convertible (yes - red) to an old ratty blue Chrysler Newport with some rust on the body and a fraying interior."

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After that affront I appreciate Piskos letting me write about his beloved red Mustang this week.

There won't be a My Favorite Ride next week. But the column returns the week after with the story of a Gosport mechanic currently working on a 1935 Dodge, a 1939 Oldsmobile, a 1950 Ford and a 1951 Kaiser. Really. I can't wait to visit. He said we might go next door to Millie McGee's for cake.

Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact My Favorite Ride reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: What this 1965 Ford Mustang has to do with 'Johnny the Bellboy'