Toyota has revealed the three best drawings by Irish children, which will go forward to the global level of the Japanese car maker's Dream Car Art Contest.
$5,000 top prize, plus cash for schools
Now in its 14th year, the Dream Car Art Contest has been designed to spur imagination and creativity amongst children aged 15 and under, getting them to create their vision of what the cars we'll be driving in the future might look like. "Since 2004, the Dream Car Art Contest has been a demonstration of Toyota's brand promise, Built For A Better World, and has been conducted as part of Toyota's social contribution initiatives, growing from strength to strength each year," said Toyota.
The grand prize is $5,000 (€4,087) for the best overall picture, plus $10,000 (€8,175) for their school to be spent on educational resources.
This year's nine finalists were chosen from three categories (Under 8 Years, 8-11 Years and 12-15 Years), with three finalists selected from each group. As well as progressing to the grand finals, the finalists were also presented with a selection of prizes for making it into the next round of the competition. First place winners within each category were presented with an Alcatel T1 Tablet while second and third place runners-up received a Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 Instant Camera and a FitBit Ace 2 respectively.
Dinosaur car!
The best of the under-8s was Adam Goku Wiercioch Chinatamunnee, who's four-years-old and comes from Cavan. His Dinosaur Car drawing is truly, truly awesome. The runners-up in the under-8s category were seven-year-old Sophie Maria Vaughan from Waterford, with her drawing entitled 'Species X' and six-year-old Francesca Chu from Dublin, who drew her "Bird House Car".
First prize in the 8-11 years category went to Angela (Zhi Qin) Lin, aged 10, who comes from Dublin, and who drew a gorgeous representation of "The End Of Covid." Second place went to nine-year-old Jerry Jiaye Lu from Dublin, and his "Dragonfly Car" while third place went to Cork's Molly Buckley, who's eight years old, and who drew "Fungie Marine".
In the 12-15 years old category, first prize went to Sabrina (Jing Wen) Yang from Dublin, who's 15, and who drew the stunning "A New World". Second prize went to another Dublin-based 15 year old, Siyi Sanee Gu, who created "TNT Musical Expressing Car" while in third place was 12-year old Nell O'Grady from Clare, who drew "Cyber Swan".
Impressed by the innovations
Zoe Bradley, Head of Marketing Communications, Toyota Ireland, said "The standard of all entries this year was incredibly high. We were so impressed by the calibre of exciting innovations which were showcased in unique and imaginative designs. The ability to put pen to paper and create these inspired drawings is truly fantastic and it's exciting to imagine the future cars of this world through the eyes of some of our youngest innovators!
"Toyota Ireland's Dream Car Art contest is now in its 14th year and it's a fantastic opportunity for children across the county to demonstrate their creative and innovative flair. It is truly encouraging to see children being creative and looking to the future in what has been a tough year for everyone and we are delighted to see the hard-work and effort put in by some of the bright minds of the future to create incredible art. We at Toyota Ireland wish all of the finalists the very best of luck with the next stage of the competition and we hope to see an Irish entry in the final."