It’s clear that Ford is planning something special for the 50th anniversary of its iconic Mustang, and it’s equally clear that the car’s revised design may be the best kept secret in the automotive world.

Last weekend, images of clay models made the rounds, quickly polarizing fans into two camps: those who believe the mock-ups represent the Evos-inspired lines of the 2015 Mustang, and those who don’t.

Don’t expect Ford to show off its next Mustang until April 17, 2014, which represents the 50th anniversary of the original Mustang’s reveal at the New York World’s Fair. Until then, expect to see lots of hype surrounding the Mustang’s 50th birthday, starting with the reveal of an all-new logo for 50th anniversary merchandise.

The design, pictured here, features the iconic galloping horse above a bold “50 Years” tag. It was the result of an international design competition headed up by Ford’s Group Vice President of Global Design, J Mays, with the winning entry submitted by Michael Thompson.

Expect to see this logo adorn anything licensed by Ford, and that range is likely to include an inconceivable amount of products. After all, not everyone can afford a new Mustang, but nearly everyone can afford a commemorative hat, keychain, t-shirt or bottle opener.

Ford is set to kick-off the buildup to the Mustang’s anniversary at this year’s New York Auto Show. We haven’t heard anything more on a limited-production anniversary edition, billed (correctly or not) as a 2014½ by a Ford spokesman, but we’re sure that the automaker is planning something big in term of product releases.