And, yes — at least according to a recent article published in Yahoo! Entertainment — it was the exact same truck. It seems that both MGM and Warner Bros. rent their vehicles from the same Dodge rental outlet, and both of them happened to choose the same blue-ish truck for their respective movies.
In “Overboard,” the old truck was used as a symbol of Dean’s working-class background, a symbol of his low income. In “Christmas Vacation,” the truck was a dinged-up piece of crap driven by low-class hillbillies. The Griswolds, meanwhile, drove a swanky station wagon, a clearer symbol of their upper-class life. It seems that blue pickup trucks, to both the makers of “Overboard” and the makers of “Christmas Vacation,” are symbols of poverty.
And, if we’re feeling adventurous, we can also point out that “Christmas Vacation” star Chevy Chase and “Overboard” star Goldie Hawn also starred in a few films together. …