The 5 Cars We'd Save From Friday's Mayan Apocalypse

So picture this. You’ve got your deep underground, concrete and lead-lined bunker, stocked up with steak, beer, a whacking great TV and a few copies of the greats, like Forza or GTA. But there are a few more square feet to fill: five parking spaces for the cars you can save for the aftermath, whether you make it or not. What do you take?

McLaren F1

The idea of this game is you have to cover as many different bases with each car that every good car quality is preserved for the survivors. The McLaren F1 covers speed (thanks to 627bhp, 1100kg and 241mph), noise (j-u-s-t beating out the Lexus LFA thanks to its awesome V12) and pure automotive genius, like its gold-engine bay, central driving position, low weight and lack of compromise. Others have gone faster, but the F1 is still probably the ultimate road car.

Jaguar E-type

For something to while away the decades while the dust and nuclear holocaust above clears, you want something pretty, and very cool. I actually don’t think the Jag’s the best looking car ever – my choice is the ridiculously perfect 288 GTO. But with the Ferrari, I’d be gnawing at my knuckles to want to go and drive the thing. If there’s a bit of a delay until I can unleash my fleet of survivor cars upstairs, I may as well keep something really cool that isn’t actually much cop to drive at all, so says the established opinion. British racing green, anyone? Plus, in times of economic mayhem, two things never lose value: gold, and classic cars. Post-apocalypse, your paper money won’t be worth a bean, but the cockroaches that survive will still want an E-type.

Moss’s 1955 Mercedes 300 SLR 722

What if the world isn’t brought to its knees by natural disaster or petty war? What if it goes all Independence Day on us and we get an arse-kicking by some rowdy alien race. Instead of waiting for Will Smith to get his game face on and save the world, you might just win over our new overlords by explaining just how great the car is. Loads of cars have brought out the best in people: Ayrton Senna’s F1 McLarens, Stefan Roser’s legendary Nurburgring attack in the RUF Yellowbird, and Alex Zanardi’s hand-control BMW touring cars, to name a tiny few. But I’d give the human in-car achievement spot to Stirling’s Silver Arrow, for his heroics on the 1955 Mille Miglia. Moss pedalled the 310bhp Merc around Italy at an AVERAGE speed of 97.96mph for 992 miles. No-one has ever completed the famous Italian course faster. It’s probably the greatest drive of all time, and the car deserves to live on to show just what an achievement that was.

Ford Puma...just kidding

Barn-find Porsche 911

Let’s face it, I’m going to be down there waiting out the apocalypse for a while. I’ll need a project to keep me occupied, and to teach me how to look after and build cars if I make it out. So, let’s have a carcass of the world’s best sports car to join the beauties already in the garage. It’ll pass the time and mean at least one of the unbeatable Porsches lives on into the new world. If you fancy staying above ground and driving through the mayhem, check out Darren's list of disaster-proof cars here.

Hmm. Two Germans, and two Brits. A supercar, a classic racing car, and two classic sports cars. I’ve covered a lot of bases, but there’s still so much to choose from for that final spot in the apocalypse garage. This isn’t a list of my favourite cars, but the ones most worthy of a second shot at life when the floodwaters and lava subsides. On that basis, I’m giving it to...

Muira? Nah, too beautiful but ropey, like the E-type. Mustang? Very cool, but too predictable. Porsche 917? Already got a Porker and a racecar. Land Rover Defender? Already got a shonky project car.

Right. Got it.

Ferrari F40

Yeah, alright. I ditched the Mustang for being too predictable and then picked the best-ever car by the best-ever car-maker. And it’s not as pretty as a 288 GTO but better to drive, which is exactly what I won’t be doing with it while it’s locked underground as Will Smith does his stuff. But could you really leave every F40 to die, along with all the BMW M3s, Ford GT40s and Fiat 500 (originals), like I just did?

Give us your cars to save in the comments.