- South Wales teenager wins competition to create cardboard motoring masterpiece
- Tribute to much-loved family pet took 25 hours to build
- Winning designer’s dad ‘thrilled’ by two-week ID.4 loan
Milton Keynes – A teenager’s crafting creativity has won his family a Volkswagen ID.4 for two weeks, and brought some much-needed joy to their household.
Oliver (15), from South Wales, entered the BoxVolkswagen competition in December that encouraged people to get creative with leftover cardboard before and after Christmas. The German car company wanted to find the designers of the future – little (and big) people with bold imaginations who could transform humble cardboard boxes into imaginary motoring masterpieces.
Oliver’s winning entry – chosen by Andreas Mindt, Volkswagen’s Head of Design, and Erin Baker, Editorial Director at Auto Trader – means his dad, Jeremy, gets to drive a Volkswagen ID.4 for two weeks. And the good news could not have come at a better time.
Dad Jeremy said: “We are thrilled by the news and Oliver is over the moon – what a wonderful surprise. Oliver has had a love of cars for most of his life and has recently started combining his love of art with a desire to design cars. He spent more than 25 hours cutting, shaping and making the car. He taught himself to use a glue gun and the whole experience was very motivating for him, so thank you Volkswagen UK.
“What makes this result so special for Oliver is that our four-year-old family pet dog, Louis, became ill on Christmas Day and died suddenly. We were grieving as a family, and this has given us all a lift.
“Louis was a Schnauzer – and that inspired the name Oliver gave his winning creation: VW Schnauzer – Louis Edition.”
Judge Andreas Mindt said: “Oliver’s car is really well made. It’s like a child would really be able to drive it. Really well done.” Fellow judge Erin Baker added: “The way he’s managed to, from the very angular nature of a box, make the curves of the bodywork is really good. Great work – it looks like one of those Wacky Racers.”
Anyone interested in test-driving an ID.4 should contact their nearest Volkswagen Retailer. The car is available in four trims, including the sporty GTX Edition, with prices starting from £39,580 (including VAT). It is currently available with zero-per-cent finance from Volkswagen Financial Services, and comes with the offer of a free Ohme home charger or £500 in We Charge credit for use at public charge points.