The major objective of this work was to investigate the tribological performance of zinc oxide, (ZnO), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and ZnO/MWCNTs hybrids as lubricant additive in commercially available 10W40 engine oil. The tribological experiments were carried out on bronze alloy-steel contacts using linear reciprocating ball-on-disk tribotester. The different mass ratios and concentrations of ZnO/MWCNTs nanomaterials were also varied to evaluate the optimal performance. The tribological results revealed that the ZnO/MWCNTs hybrid nanomaterials in the engine oil exhibited significantly enhanced friction reduction and higher antiwear capability than that of the pure oil, individual ZnO nanoparticles and MWCNTs. The engine oil containing an optimum concentration of 0.25 wt % ZnO/MWCNTs nanomaterials at a ratio of 3:1 resulted in a substantial reduction in the friction coefficient and wear volume by 32.30% and 74.48% respectively as compared to the engine oil. The worn bronze surfaces morphology and chemical compositions were examined by scanning electron microscope, 3D optical profilometer, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).