There’s no escaping the truth: the internal combustion is not long for this world. President Biden might have resisted calls from some senators to put a timeline on completely banning gasoline and diesel engines when he made his recent commitment to slowing climate change, but we don’t doubt it’ll happen.

The UK has already committed to a ban on ICE cars after 2030 (though plug-in hybrids will continue until 2035), as has Ireland, Germany, Iceland and India. And many other countries will join them by 2040. Norway, meanwhile, goes zero emissions in 2025.

California and Massachusetts want to end gas-powered car sales by 2035, and even if the other States don’t join them, the carmakers themselves will limit access to ICE machines. Volvo, Jaguar, Bentley and Cadillac have all committed to going electric-only by 2030, and the entire GM passenger car lineup will be battery powered five years after that.

Clearly, gas-powered cars aren’t about to disappear overnight after 2035, but they’re going to be in the minority before you know it. At last week’s Shanghai Auto Show almost every important new car was an EV. Which got us thinking about which ICE cars we’d choose to save and keep our zero-emissions daily company in the garage. Specifically, which one car, because it’s too simple to reel off 10 favorites. That’s right, you can only pick one car. Suddenly, it’s not so easy.

Related: Is There A Better Way Forward For Internal Combustion Engines?

Let us know in the comments which one car would get your free pass, and why. Need some inspiration? We tossed the question around the Carscoops office, and this is what we came up with:

Cristian Gnaticov

“I’ve never been a one band, one actor, one athlete kind of guy, but if it didn’t have to be a daily I’d go for the Porsche 991 GT2 RS.”

Michael Karkafiris

“A classic Giulia that’s been rebuilt from top to bottom with no budget restrictions? My 20 year-old Alfa 75-driving self would kick me in the jewels if I didn’t pick the Alfaholics GTA-R. But ask me again tomorrow and my choice could be an AMG E63 S bi-turbo.”

Andreas Tsaousis

“BMW M3 E92 manual for me. It’s got great handling, is fun to drive (and drift…), the high-revving naturally aspirated V8 has a guttural sound, and it’s as practical as any 3-Series so you can use it as your daily.”

https://youtu.be/OSOs1C_kjfU

Brad Anderson

“If money was no object, my one car would be a custom Zonda. If not it would be a Porsche 991.2 GT3 six-speed [way to bring it back to the real world, Brad – ed]. If I needed to carry anything, including children, I would fit a towbar and bring a trailer lol.”

Chris Chilton

“I could happily add another Porsche or BMW M car to this list, a Lamborghini Miura, or the Alfaholics Giulia if Michael hadn’t got there first. But instead I’ll go for a ’73 Super Duty Trans Am. Loud, vulgar, grotesquely inefficient and 100 per cent wrenchable, it would be the polar opposite of my 2035 EV daily in every way.”

John Halas

“I’d go with a BMW Individual M3 E90 V8 manual or Audi RS4 Avant V8 B7/B8. I’d need an N.A. V8! I know that’s two…”

Sebastien Bell

“My pick is the Beast of Turin. The 1910 Fiat S76 has a 28.3-liter inline four and as many of the explosions happen outside the massive engine as they do inside. If we’re celebrating combustion, I want to SEE the combustion and be deafened by it.”

Michael Gauthier

“I’d go with the Alfa 8C. If you can’t get gas in the future at least you still have piece of art.”

 

Sam D. Smith

“It’s hard to beat the all-around ability of an E60 BMW M5 manual. Love me that V10 howl, plus space to put luggage and other weights such as passengers. Might need an unlimited budget to keep it going though…”

Would you save a last of the line gas-powered supercar, or a flyweight Caterham Seven, or something else entirely? Let us know in the comments!