Personal transportation vehicle with pivoting seat and cargo bay

A personal utility vehicle, comprising:

• a chassis having a motive source, a steering mechanism, and a plurality of wheels;
• a seat having a pivotable seat bottom pivotably attached to a platform supported by the chassis and a fixed seat back connected to the chassis, wherein the pivotable seat bottom is pivotable with respect to the fixed seat back and the platform, from a first position in which the pivotable seat bottom cooperates with the fixed seat back to define a seating area, to a second position where the seat back defines a wall of a cargo bay and the platform defines a closed bottom surface of the cargo bay;
• and
• a support rail connected to the chassis, wherein when the pivotable seat bottom is in the first position, the fixed seat back is positioned proximate one edge of the pivotable seat bottom and the support rail is positioned proximate an opposite edge of the pivotable seat bottom, so that the pivotable seat bottom pivots towards the support rail when moving from the first position to the second position.

A utility vehicle comprising:

• a pivotable seat connected by a hinge to a fixed platform, the pivotable seat configured to pivot between a first position and a second position, the first position defining a standard seat location and a second position defining a portion of a cargo bay;
• a seat back configured to form a wall of the cargo bay when the pivotable seat is in the second position, wherein the seat back remains in the same position to define the standard seat location and the cargo bay;
• and
• first and second opposing side walls positioned on either side of the pivotable seat, the side walls configured to form side barriers for the cargo bay when the pivotable seat is in the second position, wherein the first and second opposing side walls are each defined by a rail member having an open interior region.