Obviously the name recognition for 50 year old cars for some gets difficult. That doesn't however prove your point about the two cars looking the same.
Put a 68 Javelin next to a 68 Mustang and people would obviously see that they are two distinct types of cars.
The funny thing is that at this show, the Javelin was parked between a 71 Chevelle on one side and a 70 Charger on the other. It didn’t help.