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. In 1978, they both appeared in Colin Higgins’ slapstick farce “Foul Play,” and in 1980, they were both in the Neil Simon flick “Seems Like Old Times.” 

Kurt Russell was never in a film with Chevy Chase, although he was in Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 film “Death Proof” which … uh, which featured a Car Chase. That’s a connection, too. It counts, right? Also, Chevy Chase played an invisible man in John Carpenter’s 1992 film “Memoirs of an Invisible Man,” and Kurt Russell played an invisible man in 1972’s “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t.” 

Goldie Hawn has never turned invisible in a movie. She is, however, the only person between herself, Kurt Russell, and Chevy Chase to have an Academy Award. She won Best Supporting Actress in 1970 for “Cactus Flower.”