by Mike Davis

(2005-05-16)

What's the connection between cars and smoking? There may be a lot more than you'd think, both today and yesteryear.

How's this for starters: one of the first questions posed to General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner, in a recent interview bytwo Wall Street Journal reporters, asked when GM was going to end smoking in its plants. Wagoner responded that it was a union matter that could only be resolved in negotiations with UAW locals.

Why did the WSJ even ask the question? Two reasons. Overriding is the conventional wisdom that smoking can be deleterious to one's health in the long run and therefore could be a factor in the high medical costs of retirees from GM and other Big Three auto companies as well as supplier firms. As everyone must know by now, employee and retiree healthcare cost is a big factor in the financial problems of Detroit automakers, putting them at a severe cost disadvantage versus import companies whose countries subsidize healthcare.

Second, a few months ago the owner of a small healthcare administration company in Michigan fired four employees for smoking OFF the job, claiming they were hurting everyone's healthcare costs and it was contrary to the company's mission. A vigorous public debate ensued. In response, a bill was introduced in the Michigan legislature to forbid such firings for off-the-job conduct.

So smoking all of a sudden is, um, a burning issue in and around the auto industry these days. Whether you're a smoker, a reformed smoker, a non-smoker, or a fire-breathing anti-smoking zealot, you may enjoy reading the commentary on this subject at http://www.smokersclubinc.com/ .

When cigarettes were permissible

But smoking is not a new concern for Detroit at all. It "yoostabee" one for the auto industry at its birth.

Henry Ford, though an Episcopalian - generally a tolerant denomination - was against smoking (and drinking) even a century ago. His vintage 1910

"No Smoking" signs still are preserved in Ford's long-ago Piquette Plant in Detroit . And in 1947, when Old Henry died, Ford Motor Company actually issued a press release announcing that henceforth, smoking would be permitted in plants and offices.

Believe it or not, it yoostabee that the popularity of smoking became a driving force in automotive design for many decades. When GM's Fisher Body introduced "no draft" windows - the pivoting glass panels in front doors - in 1933 models, it issued a publicity photo showing the smoke from a driver's cigar exiting through the open front-quarter window. Cigarette lighters and ashtrays were among the first standard equipment add-ons later in the Thirties.

Even into the Sixties, some customers would complain loudly - and product planners debate - about the number and placement of ashtrays. Luxury cars might offer as many as four lighters and five ashtrays. One of the biggest customer complaints came as built-in air-conditioning replaced hang-on units, and sometimes the vents were right over the ashtray, blowing ashes around when the fan was turned on.

It's only been in recent years that the cigarette lighter receptacle has been utilized for ubiquitous cellphones and laptops, and customers may have a choice between ashtray and coin tray for the same space. Lighters may have disappeared altogether, with multiple power points being offered instead. The latest twist, in the Pontiac Vibe, is an ashtray that can be converted to a cup-holder. Or manufacturers simply have a smoker's option as an extra.

Butt out

As a smoker/driver, I always utilized the vent window to flick my ashes and toss the butt, to keep the noxious odor, ashes, and fumes out of the car and away from complaints of family members. I quit smoking in 1970, around the time "my" automaker ceased designing cars with vent windows, a design cost saving at the time. (Subsequently I found it very obnoxious to get into a pool car or rental unit with a stinking, overflowing ashtray.)

Another aspect of smoking in cars was the fire hazard. Back in the Thirties, my great uncle "yoosta" tap out the ashes from his pipe on the driver's windowsill of his black Plymouth sedan. Twice, his ashes blew into the backseat and ignited the upholstery, once while the car was parked in the garage under their house. And I recall the time the cigarette lighter in my father's brand-new 1939 Ford Deluxe sedan shorted out in some fashion, setting off a fire in the instrument panel.

As I reflect on all this, it's a wonder there also weren't armies of mothers besieging the auto companies to complain about their untended kids burning themselves on the cigarette lighters - much more likely in the old days than today's obsession with power windows.

By the Sixties, the Society of Automotive Engineers had developed a standard for interior trim fire-resistance to smoldering cigarettes, which became one of the original automotive safety standards of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Nevertheless, it seems likely that some proportion of car interior fires even now originate either with careless smoking or malfunctioning lighters.

Today, you see classified ads for used cars with "non-smoker" displayed in the precious word-count description. Rental car companies inspect for cigarette burn damage, and may forbid smoking altogether or impose a surcharge.

Indeed, there yoostabee, and still are, numerous connections between smoking and cars.