Believe it or not, I was born not knowing how to tell cars apart. My father could glance at any car from the 30s or earlier and identify any of them. He owned a garage during the 30s. The only cars I could ever identify were the VW Bug and whatever car and model I happen to be driving. Now I own a Honda Fit and every car maker around has clone these days. The only other car I can readily identify is the Honda Element because of its box-like shape and, whenever my wife and I see one we play a game of deciding which element it is. We saw two today and decided the first was C with Pb trim and the second Pb. Others we have seen recently include Co (cobalt blue, which of course is not the name of an element but of one of its salts), Cu, and Rb.
Love this! Except in the late 80’s you already had the Thunderblob and the Taurus designed by a guy with only an ellipse template.
Most commuter cars since the mid-90’s are undistinguished bars of soap, although I can identify brand logos and some distinctive grille designs.
One day in 1996, I parked my car on a downtown city street, briefly went to and from a store, unlocked my car and got back in it, only to notice that someone had apparently trashed the interior within the span of a few minutes. Then I saw my car parked two spaces over. Apparently that particular make and model of car permits an owner’s key to unlock the door of any other car of the same model.
I know a few cars and trucks by sight: VW Beetles, PTCruisers, Mustangs, Camaros, Smart Cars, Corvettes, Nissan Cubes, Honda Elements, Jeeps of various flavors and Thunderbirds for example. Others I can recognize by a feature or two: that weird little bumpout on an Xterra, the taillights on an Impala, the demented face and odd back window on the Aztek, the utter blandness of a Dodge Caravan and the self-conscious prissiness of a Volvo. Years are beyond me, except I can spot a 65 Ford Fairlane anywhere, as my ex and I used to own one. Beautiful car.