> As in without a reference you were still correct for pitch from muscle memory?

Yes, exactly. If I try to sing a melody I'll be off by a few semitones, because well, no real musical training whatsoever, but I'll fall within the usual frequency buckets. Singing in a choir I always needed to rely on others to start, which is not ideal.

> Although the people I know with perfect pitch hear everything as pitches - the sound of cars, footsteps the washing machine etc

That sounds like hell.