Drivers will given the chance to pre-book cars located at designated venues instead of relying on privately owned vehicles as York Council attempts to drive down the traffic tailbacks blighting the city's roads.
Similar initiatives have been introduced in Europe, Canada and America, and car clubs are already running elsewhere in Britain, including Leeds, Edinburgh, Bristol and London.
Under plans agreed by York councillors, motorists will be able to unlock cars using an electronic smartcard after booking over the phone or Internet.
While York's traffic levels have remained the same as those in 1999, there is concern over the wave of new housing developments in the city near already congested roads.
York Council's executive member for planning and transport, Coun Ann Reid (Lib Dem, Dringhouses and Woodthorpe), said that car clubs had been instrumental in preventing car use, reducing congestion and pollution. She added: "There is no one single solution to congestion and we are having to look at a range of options..
"A lot of people have said to me that they have a car, but they do not use it every day. This is a way of giving them the opportunity of using a car without actually having to own one."
It is hoped that a car club could be introduced within the next six months once the deal to run the scheme has gone out to tender. Plans are already in hand to introduce a bicycle hire network as well.
Members will be able to rent different types of vehicle, including estate cars for family holidays or a smaller vehicle for a day trip or supermarket run.
There are almost 4,000 car club members in Britain, using about 200 vehicles between them. The number of cars and the cost of membership in York have not been decided.
York Council's assistant director of city development, Damon Copperthwaite, said: "Clubs offer a much cheaper alternative to owning a car, with many of the benefits and less of the fixed costs.
"Club cars will be located in several new housing developments across the city, as well as some existing streets where interest has already been expressed by residents."
York Council joined forces with Carplus, a charitable trust specialising in car clubs, to estimate how big the demand would be for the scheme.
Of the 350 responses received from residents, 44 per cent said that they were definitely interested and a further 35 per cent said they would be interested if a car club was introduced.
Some of the city's largest employees, representing some 16,300 staff and 21,000 students, were also contacted and the research showed considerable support for corporate membership.
The programme manager for Carplus, Simon Parker, said: "The car club will keep York at the forefront of transport innovation in the UK and will make a huge contribution to the reduction of pollution, congestion and parking problems in the city."
York Council announced proposals this summer to ban lorries from York's ancient streets and employ a fleet of electrically-powered vehicles to make deliveries from a depot on the A64 on the outskirts of the city to reduce congestion.