FOR a long time one could be forgiven for thinking Toyota was ploughing a lone furrow when it came to producing petrol-electric hybrids.

Such was the prominence of the Prius that it would have been fair to conclude no other manufacturer had got in on the act.

People were queuing up to buy them too and it wasn't just your average man in the street.

The Prius attracted a plethora of high profile customers, from politicians to movie stars, all no doubt keen to wear their environmental credentials on their sleeve.

However, Honda has been making hybrids for quite some time, even if the Civic IMA has failed to make the same kind of impact as its main rival.

Honda now produce two hybrids - a version of the Civic, which bears little resemblance to the rest of the Civic family, and the altogether more quirky CR-Z.

The CR-Z's hybrid technology comprises a 1.5-litre petrol engine and electric motor, which combine to produce 124bhp.

The first thing you notice about the CR-Z is just how different it looks. It has the air of one of those cars that's made it from concept to production with very little being altered - something of a rarity.

Perhaps given the historic edge the Prius undoubtedly had the styling has been done on purpose to produce something that stands out as eye-catching.

It certainly won me over, if only for the fact it reminded me of the fabulously futuristic Ed Straker's car from the sixties sci-fi series UFO.

I wondered if it was a case of false memory syndrome so actually searched out my slightly rusted Dinky replica of said car from the dark recesses of the loft and it's a dead ringer.

If you're a nostalgia freak that in itself might be enough to persuade you to part with your hard-earned but it's most likely potential buyers will be taking the plunge because of the CR-Z's environmentally-friendly credentials.

Interestingly not everyone has gone down the hybrid route in the quest to produce cleaner, greener cars and there are arguments as to whether other alternatives are the way to go.

But for the time being at least hybrids represent a viable eco alternative to conventional petrol and diesel engines and there are tangible benefits too - such as avoiding car tax and the London Congestion Charge.

The CR-Z's styling suggests an element of sportiness but the reality is somewhat more pedestrian.

In many respects it is a sports car - it looks sporty and has two seats in the rear where space is somewhat limited - rather like a Porsche 911.

In fairness a car that aims to be green and clean isn't going to be winning too many performance plaudits and that's certainly true as far as the CR-Z goes.

But in its favour it offers a degree of versatility, which means you can choose how you drive it in terms of maximising either performance or economy.

Honda have devised a clever but easy to use system which offers three modes of operation, all of which can be selected by the touch of a button.

It defaults to a ‘normal' mode which is a kind of happy medium for everyday motoring. But if you want to minimise your motoring costs then the ‘eco' mode is the one to use.

Performance feels quite sluggish and arrows on the dash tell you when to change gear to maximise fuel efficiency and in addition stop-start technology kicks in quickly to switch the engine off when you're at a standstill.

At the other end of the spectrum is a ‘sport' mode which feels positively athletic compared to the other two. Switch from eco to sport and you really do notice the difference.

I tried to alternate between all three fairly evenly, though in truth I often opted for the sport mode. Doing so I managed an overall average fuel consumption figure of just under 40mpg, which wasn't bad but a considerable distance short of the official combined figure of 56.5mpg.

In order to achieve that I imagine you'd need to be pretty much living in the economy mode, though at the same time it's worth pointing out most of my motoring was in an urban setting.

One thing I did like was how the colour of the speedometer dial changes according to which mode you are in, red for sport, green for normal and blue for eco.

On a practical level those rear seats mean the CR-Z's passenger carrying capabilities are limited, though my seven and nine-year-old youngsters coped okay.