How do people distinguish one car manufacturer from another?

I know so many people that can just point at a car driving by and say. "that's a Ford" or "that's a Chevy"
How do they do that?

Go to any automakers website and look at all the models. You will notice something about them… They are all styled similarly. Take Ford for example. The Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, Escape, C-Max, Taurus and even Mustang all have generally the same shape of grille, or similar headlight styles. All brands do it, that's known as, aptly named, branding. They WANT the average person to see a car and instantly recognize who made it. Doesn't matter if you know what model, just the make. Look at Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Nissan, GM. All of them look very specific.

Then there's people who can see a picture of a car once or twice, and instantly recognize it on the road, so not only can they tell it's a Ford, they know that it's a Mustang made between 94-95 with a V8.

I can even tell you what engine it has. I can look at an old V.W. Bug and tell if it's a 63 or a 64 and so on. You first have to have a level of passion for automobiles. I have owned about 40 cars in my life, more new than used. And I'm that guy you see on a Sunday morning wandering around looking at new cars.It doesn't matter if I just bought a car, I'm always shopping. I already have a 2016 Chevy diesel pick up truck.Watch the chase scene in the movie Bullitt and if you don't get off on that then you know cars are not your thing.Almost every car enthusiast not only knows the famous car chase, but can tell you the year and exact model car that was in the movie and that the star(Steve McQueen) did his own stunt driving.

The same way, Ms. Eve, that women can identify designer clothes, bags, shoes and jewelry. Interest and practice. People who are interested in one subject usually read, review, see pictures and become well versed on the subject. How do doctors operate on the different parts of our bodies such as the brain, the heart, the eyes? And with cars, in case you do not know, they are labeled. Each manufacturer has an emblem, a logo, plus the model name of the car, ON THE CAR.

Experience