The one ingredient missing from the new Ford Mustang? Surprise

With the worldwide unveiling of the new 2015 Ford Mustang complete, enthusiasts and critics alike have seen every angle of the new model. So far, the verdict has come back positive for Ford, with praise from many corners for preserving the essence of the Mustang while giving it some much-needed mechanical updates.

But there's a gentle dissenting opinion from a few corners asking why Ford didn't go further in pushing the Mustang forward. And it builds from a deeper problem for today's auto enthusiasts — a dwindling supply of new ideas.

Don't get too angry or excited over the top photo or the concept below; that's my amateur Photoshop idea of what many autowriters in their fever dreams would hallucinate as welcome Mustang variations. Whether it's the Subaru BRZ or the Chevy Corvette Stingray, putting a wagon end on a sports car makes it alluring to those of us who obsess over form versus function. Despite this lust, such models have found little purchase in the real world; no car has ever had a higher ratio of words composed to actual sales than the Cadillac CTS wagon, the last time an automaker tried to turn car magazine encomiums into sheet metal.

As our galleries of past Mustang development demonstrate, Ford always struggles with how much retro to put into a new Mustang's design, a problem that General Motors can sidestep with the Camaro to a larger degree after its exile. But beneath the skin, the 2015 Mustang plays variations on well-worn themes: the same wheelbase, the same engines and same transmissions. The lack of surprise in the new Mustang has less to do with any leaked info — fans have heard for years that the new Mustang would get an EcoBoost turbo engine option — than the conservative nature of the auto business.

Ford will never do a diesel wagon Mustang for Euro-minded alternadads, not just because it wouldn't sell that well even in Europe, but also because it blasphemes the church of the '60s muscle car. It would never drop the V-8 for a twin-turbo six-cylinder, or put in a performance hybrid-electric system, because of the commandment that thou shalt not seek replacement for displacement. Why not ask for a six-wheel version while you're at it, heretic?

Such heresies often come from the younger generation of enthusiasts in part because the auto industry's conservatism has triggered a vacuum of innovation — in technology, marketing and vehicles that younger buyers can afford. Much of the tech in today's cars goes toward improving fuel economy to offset feature bloat, while adding touch screens systems that often fall short of what's available on a two-year-old iPad, just as the average new-car price rises to $32,000. And it's legal worries that seem to drive new ideas: Late last week, Ford's powertrain chief told reporters in Australia that in order to meet future fuel economy rules, Ford would have to look at more radical power sources — saying "diesel is one of those options, along with hybrids and electric."

Give Ford credit for the Focus ST and Fiesta ST, because without them the entry-level performance arena would be even smaller; there's nothing like them from either GM or Chrysler, leaving a couple of entries from Hyundai, the Honda Civic Si, and not much else. (Where have you gone, Mazdaspeed3?) The BRZ and Scion FR-S, which together will sell a meager 25,000 copies in the United States this year, can lay claim to being the new generation's sports car of choice simply by default. We are more than a decade into the 21st century, and yet most of the sports cars available today carry names that predate the Nixon administration.

When it was introduced in 1964, the Mustang's base price equaled about $17,000 in today's money. Given its growth in size and price, there's room under the new Stang for a smaller rear-wheel-drive performance car — an entry that might have buyers lining up at Ford dealerships like they did before the original Mustang's unveiling in April 1964. Today, you only see lines like that outside electronics stores — where people expect, and often find, goods that truly surprise them.