At the peak of the pandemic in April, Rolls Royce launched a Young Designer Competition to give children a chance to escape into the deep recesses of their imagination and draw their dream car. Now, the marque has announced the winning designs, with its Bespoke Design Team turning them into exceptional digitally rendered illustrations using the same software and processes as they would in a ‘real’ Rolls-Royce design project.

Rolls Royce turns children's drawings into real renderings — **The Rolls Royce Glow by 11-year old Lena came put tops in the fun category. Image courtesy of Rolls Royce**

More than 5,000 kids aged 16 and under submitted fantastical sketches and there were no limits on creativity. The budding designers were inspired by everything from turtles to intergalactic space travel. From the submissions, the judges crowned four category winners—Environment, Technology, Fantasy and Fun—along with one UK winner and three highly commended drawings.

The four category winners, who hail from China, Japan, France and Hungary and range in age from six to 16 will each enjoy a chauffeur-driven journey with their best friend in a Rolls-Royce to school.

Notable designs include the Bumblebee 5000 penned by 11-year-old UK winner Sofia. This zoomorphic machine looks just like a bee and is powered by honey. It also has winged doors that open to reveal “a buzzing party atmosphere.” Next, there’s the Bluebird II designed by 13-year-old Chenyang from China. This futuristic vehicle, which topped the Technology category, can be driven on land, water or snow and is fast enough to break world speed records.

Another standout is the Turtle car envisioned by 16-year-old Florian from France. Inspired by land and sea turtles, it can soar across the sea, skies or streets and looks just like it belongs in a sharp EV lineup. Robb Report’s pick, however, was penned by 9-year-old Tim from Germany. His uber-luxurious dream machine was designed “for the most exacting patrons” and features a helicopter on top to ensure the ease of travel is never compromised.

Rolls Royce turns children's drawings from young designer competition into real renderings — **9-year old Tim’s design is for ‘the most exacting of patrons who believe ease of travel should never be compromised.’ Image courtesy of Rolls Royce**

“There is some amazing talent out there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of our entrants went on to work as car designers one day – perhaps even at Rolls-Royce. The most important thing I’ve learned from this competition is that whatever our circumstances, we have the power to create amazing things, because our imagination is always free to fly. I hope the children who took part will recognise this, too, and that it will be something positive they can take from their pandemic experience,” says Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO of Rolls Royce in a thank you note to all participants.

Source: Robb Report