where the pilgrims landed

I came upon this cool old truck riding my bicycle on City Island a few weeks back but couldn’t identify the make or model. So where’s an identifying feature?

The hood ornament looked unusual, so I zoomed in.

A sailing ship? Really? Google: “sailing ship hood ornament”

Ahhh, that’s the Mayflower on a 1937 Plymouth PickUp, one of 11,000 units built that year. This one is in great shape for a 74 year old truck.

It cost a mere $523 back in the day and honored the Mayflower on its hood because “Plymouth” was named for Plymouth (Rock), Massachusetts, where the pilgrims landed in the Mayflower in 1620. Who knew that?

I found an ornament on eBay, too.

The ’37 Plymouth was powered by a six cylinder engine producing 70 horsepower or less than half the ponies of a modern-day MiniCooper S, which makes about 163hp. I’d take that old Plymouth any day.