Inherited 1965 Ford Mustang GT In Original Poppy Red

TORRINGTON, CT – It’s not uncommon to hear owners whose classic cars and trucks are showcased on RIDE-CT to say that their vehicles will someday be passed down to their children. Ann Rafferty of Torrington and her husband Peter Rafferty are the recipients of such a bequest. Nearly two years ago, they became the caretakers of a 1965 Ford Mustang GT 2+2. 

The Poppy Red pony car had belonged to Ann’s father, Paul Cerruto of New Hartford, for more than three decades. RIDE-CT first met Cerruto in October 2022, six weeks before he succumbed to cancer, for a story about his vibrant two-tone pink 1959 Jeep Surrey that ran in January 2023. At the time, the Mustang was tucked in a barn behind his house.

“I am delighted that it went to my daughter and son-in-law. That’s what Paul wanted to happen, so after he passed away, we did the paperwork and now it’s officially theirs,” said Cerruto’s widow, Noreen, earlier this month.

The fastback K-Code Mustang, which has a 289-cubic-inch V8 engine with four-speed manual transmission, was purchased by Cerruto in 1990. 

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“He always talked about Mustangs. He wanted a Shelby but that never happened, although he did go look at some,” she said, explaining that Shelby Mustangs were too pricey. “We had not been married that long so we didn’t have the money for a Shelby.”

The acquisition of the Mustang happened after Noreen and Paul spotted it at “some sort of an automotive shop in Terryville” while on the way to a family wedding. 

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“I said, ‘Let’s look on the way home.’ No, had to stop on the way to the wedding. He kind of fell in love with it. I believe we stopped again on the way back after the wedding. Looked at it again. And then that week we were the proud owners of it,” Noreen said, admitting her larger concern upon seeing it initially was the wedding.

“While he was looking at it, I kept telling him, ‘Paul, this is a family wedding. We don’t want to be late. We have to get there.’ We made it to the wedding on time.”

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See the 1965 Ford Mustang GT in action in this YouTube video from RIDE-CT…

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Ann’s first memory of the car was when her father brought it home. “I wanted to take a ride in it but I was too young,” she said. “They didn’t have seat belts, so they were concerned back then if you ever got into an accident.”

Ann also recalls her father’s passion for old vehicles. “He loved his cars. He had a lot of old cars. He had Jeeps. He had Model Ts. He had CJ-2As. He had tons and tons of things,” she said.

That the Mustang got passed down, while the Jeep Surrey got sold off, reveals just how special it is to the family. “I never drove it but I got to ride in it. We used to go to (races at) Lime Rock almost every year,” said Ann, who has never driven the car. “I don’t want to. It’s too fast for me.” 

Her husband does driving. “It’s got some pickup, but I don’t really get on it. I really don’t beat it up too much. It is pretty quick for the time period it is,” he said.

While Ann has been aware of the Mustang for her entire life, Peter didn’t get to know Paul and the car until a dozen years ago. “He kind of took me in his arms like his own personal son ’cause he never had a son,” Peter said.

The Mustang is largely original. “It’s been worked on. He redid the motor. The wiring harness was messed up in it ’cause someone cut the resistor wire, so he had to do that because it didn’t exactly run right,” he said.

Noreen provided more details and said the Mustang’s appearance hasn’t changed since being bought. “It looked then just as it does now. Poppy red. The original color. The original paint. Same interior,” she said.

“He did mechanical work over the years to get it up and running to its full capacity, but never did anything to the exterior or nothing really to the interior except clean it up. I believe it has a new steering wheel and a few other minor parts, but that’s about it.”

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Like many old models, the Mustang wasn’t without issues. “This car was kind of a love-hate relationship with Paul. He loved it but mechanically it gave him so much trouble over the years,” Noreen said. “He tried to do the mechanicals by himself. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didn’t, so ultimately once he got it up and running again, he loved it.”

Like her daughter, Noreen has never driven the Mustang. “It’s a standard and it’s a tricky standard. I drive standards but I’ve never attempted to drive that. He always wanted me to try. I was not willing to give it a try ’cause I knew that there was some sort of trick to it and it was pretty fast.”

Noreen has been a happy passenger, though. “We would go on rides on it and he would sort of push the pedal to the metal to kind of freak me out,” she said.

The Mustang has about 82,000 miles on the odometer, and Ann and Peter use it for fun. “We just enjoy it,” Peter said. “We enjoy it. That’s what Paul said. He said, ‘I’m going to leave you guys a gift. You guys just enjoy it. You just have to keep it up.’”

(Photos by Bud Wilkinson)