LAST Thursday turned out to be quite a spectacular day for Luke Henneberry, when he was named the overall winner of the second annual Tavcor Volkswagen Design a Kombi competition.
The 17-year-old learner from Victoria Park High School beat more than 900 other entrants for the coveted title.
The competition, which ran from May 1 to July 31, has changed quite a bit since it was first launched last year.
“This year was way bigger than we expected. This year we sent the invitation for entries out to 37 schools. Over half the schools submitted entries,” said Martin Taverner, general manager of new car sales at Tavcor Volkswagen.
Last year’s 448 entries were more than doubled this year with more than 930 received. The total prize money for the category winners and schools was also increased from R11 000 to R18 000.
In another change from last year, the oldest entrant was also honoured during the awards ceremony on August 16. Cornelius Nilsen (74) received a money box in the shape of a Volkswagen Kombi.
“He loves Kombi’s. He entered last year and wrote us a two-page story about his life with Kombi’s,” said Taverner.
As the overall winner of the competition, Henneberry’s design was used to brand the official Tavcor VW Kombi Service Shuttle which was unveiled at the awards function last week.
The theme of the 2018 competition was “Campout Kombi”.
“It’s been a delight being part of this process. I think there’s so much talent in Port Elizabeth, especially in our junior schools. I’m blown away by the talent that we encountered. We are delighted to be running this competition for the second year. I’m sure there will be a third and many more years to come,” said Megan Stow, human resources director at Tavcor Motor Group.
“It’s a very important reflection of the family values that Tavcor has and the family values that the Volkswagen brand has and we hope that next year there will be even more entries,” said Stow.