Upon waking up this morning, this idea was in my head. A way to have the body lift, keep the head reasonably level, and be controlled by one single actuator. A quick test, shown below, is the basic premise of the idea. It will require some of force, but considering the materials I am using and the overall weight, should be doable.

In the test, an Allen wrench is acting as the actuator and being pushed up or pulled down through a hole in the platform. By placing the bottom hinges at different levels we get a relatively straight upward lift as well as allow the body to lower and enter "Race Car Mode". This motion is extremely fluid and nothing binds up at the start or finish.

In the full design I am working out how to best use this concept to achieve a stable structure while allowing the "chest" area to have a compartment for additional places to mount hardware. Other concerns include how to mount the ball bearings, how to give some strain relief to the motor used in the actuator, and of course there are some aesthetic concerns :)

Cheers!