Ask adults what their idea of a dream car would be, and one would hear differing answers; with some choosing a sleek sports car, others gearing towards a loaded-up SUV, and many who would pick a good old fashion truck as their ultimate automobile of choice. When Toyota posed the question, “What does your dream car look like?” to children during their worldwide Dream Car Art Contest; much like adults, the answers varied amongst the kids.

Toyota’s contest was open to youngsters up to the age of 15 years old, and the company received entries from over 80 regions and countries from around the world. From those initial entrants, judges were able to close the gap to 30; and flew these contestants down to Japan (with families) so that all could participate in an awards ceremony, thrown by Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s President.

The contest was broken down into three categories, according to age: under 7 years of age; 8 to 11 years of age; and 12 to 15 years of age. Entries in each division had one Gold winner, two Silver, three Bronze, as well as four overall Best Finalist nods; ensuring that every entrant at the ceremony, left with some sort of prize. As well, one art piece was chosen as the Engineering Inspiration Award; hand-picked by Mitsuhisa Kato, Toyota Executive Vice President. This piece of art within the contest will eventually be reproduced in a 3D model.

When all was said and done, The folks at Driving.ca reported the coveted Gold Awards went to:

• “Toyota Alpha-Bird Car – The Universal Language Car” – Seven-year-old Sethumdee Dulanya Dewagamage, from Shri Lanka
• “Toyota Robo-Fly for girls in need” – 11 year-old Ada Maria Ciontu, from Romania
• “Nano Car” – 13 year-old Azul Paz Servin Rodas, from Paraguay

This year’s contest theme for the children was a focus on humanity and the environment; with cars displayed to help educated the young artists on eliminating pollution, promoting recycling and world peace.