Why didn't they? What are the arguments against this solution?
You would have to upgrade the software and OS of systems using IPv4-only to understand the IPv6 IP header. (Which is much simpler than upgrading to support IPv6 AND assigning IPv6 addresses)
I guess the bigger problem is that all routers in the path between an IPv6-only host and an IPv4-only host would have to support IPv6 to parse the destination IPv4/IPv6 address and make the proper routing decision.
This would make "IPv6 to IPv4 and vice-versa" traffic only work for some, depending on which ISPs has upgraded their equipment to support IPv6, and which IPv4-only hosts has upgraded their software+OS to support IPv6. This could result in IPv6 getting a very bad reputation, further delaying adoption.
Anything I am missing?