Don’t forget this experimental fifth wheel method installed on a 1951 Cadillac. It used the spare tire to do the job.
And while we’re on the subject jeck out these two designs.
British Pathe
1948 Cars of the Future
Why don’t we do that today? Because it is expensive, unreliable, and highly risky. A failure in the mechanism while driving at speed would be disastrous. The negatives far outweigh the small benefit the system offers.