By The Chronicle Staff

It had two doors, sporty styling, an available six-speed manual transmission and a name designed to remind Honda enthusiasts of one of the company's most beloved small cars.

It was also a hybrid.

On paper, the Honda CR-Z sounded like exactly the sort of automobile that should have developed a devoted following. Instead, just six years after arriving in American showrooms, it disappeared.

Introduced for the 2011 model year after making its debut in 2010, the CR-Z represented an unusual experiment for Honda.

At a time when most hybrids were marketed almost entirely around fuel economy and environmental benefits, Honda tried something different: build a hybrid that was actually fun to drive.

The concept drew obvious comparisons to the Honda CRX, the small two-seat hatchback sold during the 1980s and early 1990s that became popular among enthusiasts because it was lightweight, affordable, efficient and entertaining.

Honda never officially positioned the CR-Z as a direct replacement for the CRX, but the similarities were difficult to ignore. It was small. It had two doors. It had an aggressively sloped rear hatch. Even its name seemed intended to stir memories of the CRX.

There was one major difference under the hood.

The CR-Z combined a gasoline engine with Honda's Integrated Motor Assist hybrid system. Buyers could even pair that hybrid powertrain with a six-speed manual transmission — an extremely unusual combination then and even more unusual today.

Starting at around $19,000 when it arrived, the CR-Z also appeared well positioned to attract younger buyers looking for an affordable, efficient and slightly different first new car.

There was just one problem – it wasn't particularly fast.

Later versions of the CR-Z produced around 130 horsepower. That wasn't necessarily terrible for a small car, but the CR-Z's sporty appearance created expectations its powertrain struggled to meet.

Drivers expecting a modern interpretation of the lightweight and entertaining CRX frequently came away disappointed. At the same time, consumers primarily interested in fuel economy could find other hybrids that delivered better mileage and offered more practical interiors.

That left the CR-Z caught somewhere in the middle.

It wasn't quite sporty enough for some performance enthusiasts, yet it wasn't efficient or practical enough to become the obvious choice for traditional hybrid buyers.

Honda eventually attempted to address the performance criticism in a particularly interesting way.

The company's performance division offered a supercharger kit that could increase output to approximately 197 horsepower. That transformed the CR-Z into a considerably more capable performance car, but there was a catch: the kit was designed for CR-Z models equipped with the six-speed manual transmission.

For enthusiasts, a nearly 200-horsepower, supercharged, manual-transmission hybrid hatchback was certainly unusual.

For the broader car-buying public, it wasn't enough to rescue the model.

Sales steadily declined after the CR-Z's initial introduction. Timing didn't help.

Hybrid vehicles had gained significant attention during periods of high gasoline prices in the 2000s. But during much of the CR-Z's lifespan, gasoline became relatively affordable again. When drivers weren't feeling as much pain at the pump, convincing them to accept compromises in exchange for improved fuel economy became more difficult.

The CR-Z also faced another uncomfortable comparison.

For a vehicle built around hybrid technology, its fuel economy wasn't exceptional.

Consumers interested primarily in saving gasoline could choose other hybrids offering better mileage, while buyers interested in inexpensive performance had plenty of conventional gasoline-powered alternatives.

Honda continued making improvements, but the fundamental problem remained: consumers weren't entirely sure what the CR-Z was supposed to be.

By the summer of 2016, Honda discontinued it.

In retrospect, however, the CR-Z may look more interesting today than it did when it was new.

The automobile industry has changed dramatically in the decade since production ended. Electrification is no longer primarily associated with slow, economy-focused vehicles. Electric motors are increasingly being used to make performance cars faster.

Hybrid systems can now be found in everything from ordinary family vehicles to some of the world's quickest supercars.

That makes the basic idea behind the CR-Z — combining electrification, efficiency and driving enjoyment — seem considerably less strange.

Honda may simply have attempted it too early.

The CR-Z also belongs to an increasingly rare category of automobiles: small, relatively inexpensive two-door cars. Automakers have spent much of the past decade abandoning coupes, hatchbacks and small cars as American consumers shifted toward crossovers, SUVs and trucks.

And a manual-transmission hybrid? That combination is almost unheard of today.

The CR-Z never became the modern CRX many Honda enthusiasts hoped it would be. It didn't revolutionize the hybrid market, and its sales numbers gave Honda little reason to keep it around.

But automotive history has a funny way of changing how unsuccessful cars are remembered.

Vehicles that seemed confusing when they were new sometimes become interesting years later precisely because manufacturers never built anything else quite like them.

The Honda CR-Z was affordable, efficient, available with a manual transmission and designed to make hybrid driving at least a little more entertaining.

Consumers largely shrugged when it was sitting in showrooms.

A decade later, the strange little Honda might finally be starting to make more sense. ■