Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley has four cars and loves them.
“I’m like a guy in that respect,” says the Barrington native who relished her first chance to design a car in General Motors’ Concept: Cure, a program to raise money for breast cancer research.
Rowley and other designers Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger and Nicholas Graham, of the Joe Boxer label, were each invited to design the car of their dreams — within limits.
“Originally, I wanted to design a totally transparent car so you could see it work. It would be a total vanity car because (onlookers) could see the driver too,” says Rowley, who found government regulations and the assembly-line constraints restricted her original vision.
Instead she came up with a blue, yellow and red plaid over phosphorescent black design for her Pontiac Grand Prix. “It’s glow-in-the-dark so you can find your car at night in the parking lot,” says Rowley who also placed luminous stars on the car’s ceiling and designed plaid luggage, dress and handbag to match the car.
Rowley’s creation and other Concept: Cure cars made their debut last week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and are for sale via a sweepstakes to benefit the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research. Interested bidders can make a pledge (888-GM-CCURE) for the car of their choice and enter the June drawing to win. Each $20 pledge earns one sweepstakes entry; a $100 pledge gets you 10.
Last year’s program raised $700,000.
