Toyota reveals Irish dream car art contest finalists

Toyota Ireland is delighted to announce the finalists in the 2021 Toyota Dream Car Art Contest. Nine children from across Ireland were chosen for their impressive artistic skills and inventive ideas in envisioning the perfect car for the future.

The chosen nine finalists will now go forward to represent Ireland in Toyota’s worldwide art contest for the chance to win the grand prize of $5000 (€4087) as well as $10,000 (€8175) for their school to be spent on educational resources.

Now in its 14th year, the Dream Car Art Contest is Toyota’s unique platform that encourages imagination and creativity amongst children aged 15 and under, inspiring them to look ahead and 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.  

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.

The innovative finalists making it through to the global competition are:

Under 8 Years

  • 1st Prize: Adam Goku Wiercioch Chinatamunnee, (Age 4, from Cavan), – “Dinosaur Car”
  • 2nd Prize: Sophie Maria Vaughan (Age 7, from Waterford) –  “Species X”
  • 3rd Prize: Francesca Chu (Age 6, from Dublin) – “Bird House Car”

8-11 Years

  • 1st Prize: Angela (Zhi Qin) Lin (Age 10, from Dublin) – “The End of Covid”
  • 2nd Prize: Jerry Jiaye Luo (Age 9, from Dublin) – “Dragonfly Car”
  • 3rd Prize: Molly Buckley (Age 8, from Cork) – “Fungie Marine”

12-15 Years

  • 1st Prize: Sabrina (Jing Wen)  Yang (Age 15, from Dublin) –  “A New World”
  • 2nd Prize: Siyi Sanee Guo (Age 15, from Dublin) – “TNT Musical Expressing Car”
  • 3rd Prize: Nell O’Grady (Age 12, from Clare) – “Cyber Swan”

Toyota Ireland’s judges were electrified by all the entrant’s innovative designs. Toyota believes that dreams can take people anywhere, and the creations this year were very much in line with their “Built for a Better World” brand promise.

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.”