Colin-on-Cars

 Kids show off dream car designs

The unfettered imagination of children usually produces absolutely honest reflections of their thinking and feeling when it comes to creative writing or art – and the winners of the 15th annual Toyota Car Art Contest proved just that.

Earlier this year, Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) invited children up to the age of 15 years to submit drawings of their imagined mobility solutions of the future. The competition had three age categories, namely: Under 8, 8 to 11 years and 12 to 15 years. 

For the first time in the competition’s history, the prizes of the winners in each category were delivered in a vehicle emblazoned with their respective eye-catching artwork. 

“We are obviously sad Covid-19 has made it impossible for us to host the winners at Toyota like we’ve done before the pandemic hit, but we’ve had to improvise. The Dream Car competition is aimed at encouraging children to visualise and sketch mobility solutions of the future – and we hope that it was like seeing their artwork coming to life when they saw the cars that delivered their prizes,” says Glenn Crompton, Vice President of Marketing at TSAM.

 The first prize in the Under 8 category went to Zuhayr Syed Ebrahim for his ‘Air mobile’, which he says is based on his imagination to “see it race other air mobile cars and to see a great view on cruise mode”.

Ridhima Hingorani’s ‘Leaf car’ claimed first spot in the 8 to 11 years category. She says her piece was inspired by her desire to create an eco-friendly vehicle “that works like a leaf… it will take energy from air and sunlight and will use biogas as an alternative fuel source”. 

In the 12 to 15 years category, Karabelo Musi walked away with first prize for her ‘Toyota Dream Car’ – a vehicle that is about creating “happiness to be spread throughout the world and for negativity to be sucked away”.  

In addition to the winners’ artwork, the Corolla Quest model delivering the prizes will also sport TSAM’s new Carbon Neutral logo. The logo is a symbol of Toyota’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. TSAM is also encouraged that one of the top winners envisages a future of green mobility with her ‘Leaf Car’. 

The competition, which attracted more than 11 000 entries, also recognised four runners-up in each category and ensured that they didn’t walk away empty-handed. Each category winner received a PS5 to the value of R15 000, while the prize for second place was an Xbox valued at R7 000, third place a laptop to the value of R5 000, a tablet valued at R3 000 for fourth place and a R2 000 Makro voucher for fifth place.

 

CATEGORY 1: Under 8 years

5th Place is Kamisha Koreena

4th Place is Josiah Pereira Harichund

3rd Place is Mohammed Zaydaan Shaikh

2nd Place is Kayla Reddy

1st Place is Zuhayr Syed Ebrahim 

Vehicle Name: The Air mobile

Description: The air mobile is able to race other air mobile cars and to see a great view in cruise mode.

CATEGORY 2: 8 - 11 Years

5th Place is Isabelle Sade Gouden

4th Place is Luan Strydom

3rd Place is Thuwaibah Nanabhaya

2nd Place is Liandra Hon

1st Place is Ridhima Hingorani

Vehicle Name: Leaf Car

Description: With increasing air pollutions and shortage of fuel, my dream car is the one that works like a leaf. It will take energy from air and sunlight and will use bio gas as an alternate. 

CATEGORY 3: 12 - 15 Years

5th Place is Chad Robert Thompson

4th Place is Nicolas Andrew Schutte

3rd Place is Kyle Verfaillie

2nd Place is Lawrence Sanele Dube

1st Place is Karabelo Musi     

Vehicle Name:  Toyota Dream Car

Description: For happiness to be spread throughout the world and negativity to be sucked away with my car. 

TSAM added a new element to the competition in 2019, where schools that collected the most entries were awarded cash prizes. The top three performing schools in 2021 were Cresslawn Primary School (1st prize - R15 000), Tyburn Primary (2nd prize – R10 000) and Caradale Primary (3rd prize – R5 000).