A few decades back it was very easy to identify a car with just a glance. Not only could one easily tell a Chevy from a Ford from a Dodge, one could also identify the model year. Today it would take a sharp eye to tell one make of sedan from another if the badging were removed. I’m not sure when this happened for me - could it have bee as early as the mid 70’s?
I’ve never had this ability, but I wasn’t born yet in the mid-seventies, so perhaps I only ever lived in the era of generic sedans. Or maybe I’m just not that into cars.
Sorry, I disagree. As far as I can tell, people can easily identify cars of an era they’re interested in/grew up in. I can easily tell a modern Chevy from a Toyota from a Ford. what I can’t do is tell with certainty what make any pre-1960s cars are aside from the iconic '57-'59 Chevy.
I’m kind of a “car guy” and can tell most of them apart, but will confess I don’t give a shit about most domestics and so they mostly look alike to me.
I’ve never been good at it; I’m just not a car guy. I can barely recognize my own. Seriously, one time I tried four different white sedans in a parking lot before I found mine.
I can tell a VW Bug from a Bricklin, if that gets me any points.
I have a pretty good eye for car makes and models. There are enough shape and subtle differences in style that it’s not too difficult to tell them apart.
Although when I buy a new car the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon seems to kick in.
I recall an old Andy Rooney “Have you ever noticed…” closure to 60 Minutes about maybe 25 years ago when he was saying the same thing as the OP: namely, when he was young he could recognize every car on the road and now he just can’t do it. I’m 52, so maybe this will also happen to me eventually.
Closing thought, I drive a lot; I drive a real lot. So maybe I’m an outlier here.
Yeah, me too. I’m really not interested in cars at all. I’ll only notice a car if it’s really different/unusual-looking, or if it’s the same type and colour as my own car (a Malibu.)
My dad, on the other hand, used to be able to not only tell not only what kind a car was, but the year. Though this was back in the 1960s/70s.
Serious car nut here. For me around 1995 although I would argue that the various “K cars” started the trend. At that part everything looked like just a type - hatchback, sedan, SUV. A couple makers are starting to make a couple models that stand out but not many.
Part of this, I WAG, is that for some time now cars have to comply with certain safety parameters, for example the front of the car needs to be somewhat pedestrian friendly.
I’ve never been able to tell most cars apart, and I don’t even have the excuse of being born during the Time of Indistinguishable Cars.
One day I will witness some terrible crime, and the police will ask me what kind of car the robbers were driving, and I will answer, “Green.”
I love the illustration of 1939 cars. There were a lot of nameplates back then, and there are again today. In the 60s, 70s, you just had the Big 3 domestics, AMC, and maybe VW. There’d be a rare Mercedes or a rarer tiny sports car.
Today there are lots more players and models are introduced at different times of year. And yeah, there are more look-alike cars – safety and mileage concerns contribute to that. Rectangular boxes persist in the Truck and SUV categories but otherwise aerodynamics and mpg are given their due. (I wonder if some drivers have a psychological need for a big flat vehicle front that has to push aside huge amounts of air.)
I would say it started with the generic square sedans in about the mid 1980’s. Cars like the Accord, Camry, Taurus, and Mazda 626 were all the same basic shape.
I can still tell most cars apart pretty easily, but I swear every model of Kia is a rip-off of another car, mostly Fords.
I am a car guy, 62 years old. My mother claims when I was three, I could pick out all the “fiffy five chevs” on the road.
However, admittedly, it started to getting tougher to tell cars apart/years, etc by the early 80’s. Case in point, my wife had a 1982 Pontiac Parisienne, and I had an '84. The rear nameplate was on the opposite side of the trunk and the steering wheels were different. Other than that, good luck telling them apart. (well, except hers was greenish grey and mine was white :smack:)
Never really could. Unless it was really odd (like a VW Beetle) or owned by a relative, or better yet, both (my aunt’s ~1960 Rambler), they were all just cars to me.