Convertible automobile carrier

Claim 1

A semitrailer with the capability of conversion between a general freight carrying mode and an automobile carrying mode, having upper and lower freight carrying tiers, and having an enclosed top, a rear end equipped with doors, and a closed front end, said lower tier consisting of a discontinuous floor means having: a horizontal section; a drop section, and an angled section, said horizontal section being adjacent to said front end, and said angled section lying in a continuous plane extending from the bottom of said drop section to the rear end of said semitrailer above the semitrailer's rear wheels, whereby in the automobile carrying mode, the automobile adjacent to the front end is disposed to rest on said floor means with its front set of wheels higher than its rear set of wheels so as to provide clearance between said automobile and the upper tier, and said upper tier comprising track support members having a longitudinally straight surface mounted on each sidewall of said semitrailer, and pivotable therefrom between a first position adjacent to said sidewall, and a second, horizontal position, said track support members when displayed in their horizontal position form a continuous, supporting structure from one sidewall of the semitrailer to the other such sidewall, and wherein the end of the track support members nearest the rear end of the semitrailer are pivotable downward at an angle from the horizontal when said tracks support members are deployed in their horizontal position, thereby facilitating the loading of automobiles into said semitrailer, whereby when said track support members are disposed in said first position, the semitrailer is adapted to carry general freight, and when disposed in said second position, it is adapted to carrying automobiles.