Last month’s award sits alongside other accolades including Japan’s Car of the Year and Top Gear UK magazine’s Green Car of the Year.

The world’s first hybrid with a six-speed manual transmission, the CR-Z took top honours from a field of 28 models and 64 variants.

Wheels judges put the CR-Z through its paces over a week of intensive testing.

Wheels magazine’s award is the world’s longest continuously running Car of the Year Award. 

Editor Bill Thomas said the CR-Z takes the idea of the car in a direction the magazine thinks it should go – it’s innovative, trendsetting, efficient and fun to drive.

“We think the spirit of Honda shines through. Cars don’t have to be ‘supercars’ to be fun. 

“It’s the CR-Z’s balance of abilities – the combination of price, performance and fun.”

Wheels judge John Carey said the CR-Z was expertly engineered, impressively efficient, had strong safety credentials and was also a genuine joy to drive.

“Endowed with the kind of handling and steering that invites involvement, the Honda puts a smile on the face of any driver who accepts the invitation.”

The 2011 Wheels Car of the Year Award is the sixth won by Honda. 

The first was the original Honda Accord in 1977 and the first Japanese car to win the award. 

Other Honda models to win include the Prelude in 1987, NSX in 1991 (joint with Nissan Pulsar), Odyssey in 1995 and Accord Euro in 2008.

Honda was the first to introduce hybrid motoring in Australia with the launch of the first-generation Insight in 2001. 

The CR-Z joins the Insight and the Civic Hybrid as part of Honda’s current hybrid offering.

While the hybrid category is still in its infancy in Australia, Honda has sold more than 750,000 Honda hybrids worldwide.

There are more than 400,000 Hondas on the road in Australia.