Cigarette butts sucked back in through rear window '62 Beetle?

[XenonJohn]

Hi all,

Here is a crazy urban myth type Beetle question.

In 1962 my now 93 year old father in law drove a Beetle from the UK to Italy for a family holiday. This took 3 days and he chain smoked all the way. Apparently every now and then one of the cigarette butts he threw out of the window would apparently be sucked back in through the open rear end of the rear side window on the same side, landing in the lap of one of his children, much to their surprise and alarm as it would still be smouldering!

Has anyone else ever noticed this?

[hitest]

Sounds possible AND he didn't try very hard to clear the car. The pop outs do bring a strong current in the car. I'd bet he smoked a hell of a lot to get a few to suck back in- as if it became a game to him after the first one. Maybe if the front windows were open just enough for his yellow fingers and the butt- but the rears were all open. Poor kids- how's their lung cancer?
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[busdaddy]

Definitely plausible, the suction created by the front vent windows as the wind wraps around the windshield and suddenly drops in pressure is greater than what may occur at the rear of an open pop out, and along the sides of the pop out ahead of the tail end the slipstream may actually still be neutral or entering slightly. Drop a butt out the vent vindow while all the door glass is rolled up as the car is moving fast enough and it could happen.
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[oprn]

No that does not surprise me at all. I have never had the smoking curse but I am heavily addicted to sunflower seeds and fall off the wagon from time to time. Yes with the window partway down on the shop pickup truck you can spit the shells out the front of the window and they do make a U turn and come right back in past my ear!

I did a little air current experiment last summer in my Manx copy and it was amazing to see how extensive the back currents are on it!

[modok]

Yes that is possible. That is how the air flows in most older sign cars, not unique to VW but it's pretty severe casr with the near flat windshield, and the vent window being just ahead of the corner/drip rail.

[Zeen]

Public Service Announcement: Cigarette butts are litter, keep them in your car until you can dispose of them properly. Yes, we know they are smelly and disgusting, that's your problem, not ours.
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[gears]

^^ x2 Absolutely appropriate they'd end up in the back seat ..
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[busdaddy]

Around here getting seen doing that by a cop results in a $250+ fine, seems many of the big (and small) wildfires we've had lately were the result of a careless smoker motorist.
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[oprn]

I accidently left the oil filler cap off the Buggy and in just a few highway miles the backside of the windshield and my eyeglasses were covered in a fine oil mist!

[Patty B.]

Conversely--on one trip on the highway going to the Niagara Falls June Jitter Bug we had half a box of Kleenex sitting in the middle of the back seat of the Bug empty out, a sheet at a time, fly around, in a flurry, inside the cabin and get sucked out the passenger window while at highway speed--scared the hell out of us and can't imagine what the car behind us thought! I don't keep Kleenx back there no more.

[ach60]

Back in the day it was fairly common to find burned spots in rears seats of cars from this stupidity.
The really unlucky guys occasionally burned their cars to the ground.
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Good Luck
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[nlorntson]

Karma

[EVfun]

[Mos6502]

Has anybody ever found an engine with the cooling fins clogged with cig butts?

[Volktales]

The former owner of my Ghia was once a heavy smoker. He used to own a Henry J at one time and set his back seat on fire when the butt was sucked back in... Luckily he didn't smoke and drive in the Ghia.
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1974 "Restfalia" Camper 2000 cc EFI 2001-
1970 Beetle first car, rotten, yard art 1985-
1966 Sunroof Beetle, restored 1998-
1964 Ghia, ongoing project 2007-
1962 Beetle Beryl,original paint survivor 2012-
1970 Savannah Beige Beetle 2012-
1992 16v GTI, 100% stock 2006-
1991 "Terseo", wife's old daily 1995-
1969 Chevrolet CST/10 (family owned since new)
1965 Gold Corvair Monza 2021-
1966 and 1965 Monza 2022-

[XenonJohn]

[my59]

Way back crossing the old Woodrow Wilson bridge on 95 to VA one night my old man flipped a butt out the smoker window and it came in the open rear seat window, freaked out my sister, she starts screaming the car is on fire.
Mom tried reaching back as she can see the butt in between the rear seat back and the seat, but cant reach.
In the fast lane, dad flipped his right blinker on, checked his blind spot and faded across all lanes to the break down as calm as fuck and stops. Gets out, opens rear door, grabs the butt, takes a last drag and flicked it over the roof and away into the river. Got back in, and away we went. Not a word spoken.
My takeaway that night was huh, you always need to know where the surrounding cars are so you can do an emergency stop...
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my59: Well son, my grandfather died before I got to drive it, so does that answer your question?
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[Mike Fisher]

I threw a lit cigarette out of a big highway bus window in the Philippines.
It flew back in the next seat back with sparks on a couple young girls!
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[TDCTDI]

Not a cigarette, but I was driving the Ghia at 50 MPH and a plastic bag blew in front of the car & I watched it as it perfectly slipped over the nose, 1” above the hood, over the windshield, down the back window, and directly into the air intake vents in a fraction of a second.
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