Tilling-Stevens - Buses

Buses

The petrol-electric transmission was fitted to chassis built by J.E. Hall and Co, of Dartford, (who used the trade name "Hallford", so these were known as "Hallford-Stevens") and Dennis Bros, of Guildford (as "Dennis-Stevens"), until an arrangement was agreed with a large bus operator, Thomas Tilling, who wanted to produce their own vehicles which were named Tilling-Stevens. The ease of driving and soundness of construction of these vehicles soon led to the company supplying chassis to many bus operators in the UK, and several abroad as well.

Tilling-Stevens Motors Ltd consolidated its position with bus operators in the World War I because the petrol-electric chassis were not considered suitable by the Army for use in France. However, many men were trained to drive in the War on vehicles with conventional gearboxes which led to a decline in popularity of Tilling-Stevens' system. By the 1930s, chassis were being produced with conventional petrol/diesel engines, gearboxes and transmission.

Tilling-Stevens split from Thomas Tilling in 1930 and renamed itself T S Motors Ltd (TSM) in 1932, but were again renamed Tilling-Stevens before World War II had broken out.

Tilling-Stevens was still manufacturing buses after World War II, with a large order built in 1947/1948 for export to Hong Kong (China Motor Bus (108) & Kowloon Motor Bus (50)).