Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Such is a quote that is attributed to any number of historical figures, though the first written account of this saying is attributed to George Santayana. Basically, it means look to the past to see what the future holds, and it doesn’t always have to be in a negative way.

For example, the sleuths over at The Mustang News are looking to the past when they assert that Ford could debut a next-generation Mustang concept as early as this December, at the LA Auto Show. But is this what the Blue Oval really has planned? Or is this just wishful thinking?

The Mustang News asserts that a next-gen concept has always pre-empted the launch of the actual vehicle by at least a year. For context, it points to the 2005 Mustang Concept, which made its official debut in December of 2002 at the LA Auto Show and again in January 2003 at the Detroit Auto Show. The actual 2005 Mustang was then launched in the spring of 2004.

Yet the other example The Mustang News cites of the Guigaro Mustang concept doesn’t hold weight. While some of the design features of the Guigaro Mustang did make it into the 2010 Mustang makeover (which debuted in 2009), the Guigaro concept actually debuted in December of 2006 at the LA Auto Show, a full two-years ahead of the redesign.

With much of the automotive media expecting the next Mustang to hit dealerships in the spring of 2014 as a 2015 model, Ford is definitely running down the clock on the next Mustang debut. But will a concept really come out so soon? Are we really that close to the next Mustang? The weeks are counting down, and Ford doesn’t have many opportunities left to unveil the next-gen Mustang. Dare we get our hopes up?