Long before Tillett Racing Seats were noted for their kart seats, the family business was always car seating. Steve’s father Alec owned J. Willis & Sons, a very old car and coach trimming business started in 1896. There they would trim vintage and veteran cars, alongside jobs for local car dealers, one such dealer being the infamous Bernie Ecclestone. The level of craftmanship in the company meant they were often commissioned to work for the Royal Muse, upholstering the late Queens state coaches.
Alec Tillett with his old boss Mr. Willis retrimming the No.1 Landau coach in the Royal Muse. Despite this picture, they couldn’t actually work together in the carriage at the same time, as it rocked too much. They would hold the tacks in their mouth and used a magnetic hammer to take them out. But if the other guy moved at the wrong time, you smashed the hammer into your teeth.
Once Steve left the family firm to form Tillett Racing Seats, kart seats took over and the link was seemingly broken, but not for long. One day a customer asked Steve to make him a small low back seat for his Westfield, so that he could sit lower. Therefore, a sculptured shape was formed, more suitable for a car but using the same principles used in kart seats to make a comfortable shape without padding. This basic shape is still in use today in the guise of the W1.
The next pivotal episode for Tillett Racing Seats came when Jez Coates from Caterham walked into the factory. Caterham were looking for a new race seat for their R500 and thought that something like a kart seat may do the job. Steve didn’t think a kart seat was the right shape for a car and showed Jez our small low back W1 car seat. Although they were very interested, they were dithering on the decision, due to the high RTM tooling costs of using their new innovative production method.
The original Caterham seat tooling that ran for 22 years. possibly a record for a single composite manufacturing tool.
Steve grew impatient waiting for Caterham to decide on the project, as he knew they were onto something really worthwhile. By using two mouldings bonded together they could make a rigid box section and knock out a substantial amount of weight over traditional race seats. Steve said to Jez that they were going to make the seat anyway and when it was ready Caterham could either buy it, or not. After 400 hours of sculpturing and rubbing down the perfect shape was formed and the staff at Caterham loved the prototypes. The R500 Superlight, with the new twin skin seats installed, was released to the public at the 1999 Earls Court motor show.
The first twin skin race car seats were made for the Caterham R500 Superlight which weighed 500 kg.
In the following years the R500 seat was so popular other customers tried to buy them directly. This included saloon racer Chris Craft, for whom had already been buying a wider W2 version of the early Westfield seat, this was to go in the Gordan Murray designed Rocket.
Chris wanted a seat for his new project called a Strathcaron Vemac. A new design and shape were sculptured and prototypes were made, but the car never really came to serious production. Only 14 cars were ever made after the company was sold on to Japan.
Vemac RD 200, they only made 14 of the Elise like cars.
The Vemac seat prototypes were made in 2000
Although disappointing, the unused shape for this new Tillett car seat still existed and work started on developing and finally releasing the carbon fibre Blackhawk seat. This name was eventually shortened to B1, after struggling to name the second car seat model.
Steve Tillett takes the B1 seat to show McLaren
The B1 was almost used by McLaren for the MP12C and was substantially used in testing the prototype mule car. The other models B2, B4, B5 and B6 followed quickly after, with car seats becoming a significant part of the business, and with the car range extending to include the B7, the lightest and most compact FIA seat in the World, Tillett seats were making the motor racing world sit up and take notice with their completely unique solution to race car seating.
If you found this article interesting, you might want to read our 'THE NAME’S BEHIND THE TILLETT BRAND' article.
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