It is a real pain towing a trailer around when you need to pick up something that is too big for the boot (errr, sorry, trunk).
The universal car trailer is a simple folding frame made of tubular metal and fitted with two smallish road wheels. Rather like a golf trundler. It has a few clamps and elastic cords for fixing the load as well as a telescopic drawbar with hitch attachment.
Provided this is carefully designed and made of a light alloy it should be possible to fold this up and get it in the trunk.
Then when you pick up the new sofa just unfold the trailer and tow it home!-- KiwiJohn, Feb 24 2004 Stowable Rack http://www.truckxpr...ories/everthere.htmAmongst lots of other Bike racks and storage containers, this is the only hitch that I thought could handle a sofa and also fold into the trunk of my Mercedes. (Er, better make that a loveseat.) [jurist, Oct 17 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] Single wheel trailer http://www.singlewheel.com/WelcomeFR.htmGeneral info [half, Oct 17 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] (?) Folding utility trailer http://cgi.ebay.com...755&item=2461280819 [half, Oct 17 2004] I thought this was an interesting *real world* sort of problem so I spent the better part of an hour trying to find an example of a two wheeled collapsible trailer that would meet automotive codes. I looked at dozens of products that could be attached to your car to tow a relatively light load over relatively short distances for relatively short periods of time ... and didn't really find any "travois" type trailers that met the author's description (i.e, would fold and fit in the trunk). I suspect this has a great deal more to do with road safety and Uniform Vehicle Codes than the ability to manufacture a usable product and bring it to market.
What I did find, of course, were lots of examples of old fashioned roof racks and hitch attachments. Many of these were compact, portable, and a few were stowable ... but not towable. Still, I'm including a link for the general purpose product that comes closest to [KiwiJohn]'s intention that won't get you a ticket on the highway.-- jurist, Feb 24 2004 I had the single wheel trailer idea for a motor cycle.-- BJS, Feb 10 2006 Simple trailer takes all* sized loads.
* where all = 'smaller than the car boot'-- neilp, Feb 10 2006 random, halfbakery