The force is strong in this Shropshire firm which appears in Star Wars

Star Wars was already a smash hit across the Atlantic, but this was the first time the young car seat designer had been able to catch it. And when he saw Han Solo and Chewbacca begin their expedition to the planet Alderaan, it was too much, and he could not control his excitement.

"I just jumped up in the cinema and yelled 'they're my seats!'," he recalled.

Few people will be aware that the seats used by Ford and Peter Mayhew in the Millennium Falcon were made by Cobra, based in Halesfield, Telford.

The seats, which played a central role in all three films in the Star Wars trilogy, were the first of many of the company's products that would have a worldwide profile, seen by millions of people.

From small beginnings in 1976, Cobra has grown to become one of the world's leading producers of specialist car seats for motorsport. Countless rally and touring car drivers have won landmark titles while strapped into seats hand-made at the small factory. Top Gear stars Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond have caused laughter and controversy in equal measure as they have looned about in cars kitted out by Cobra. And the plush seats which adorn the dugout of most Premier League clubs these days? They are made by Cobra too.

Cobra was founded in 1976, when Geoff decided to follow in the footsteps of his father Len, who had been the master coach trimmer at AC Cars in Thames Ditton.

His son Mark, who now runs the company, said: "It was at that time when AC was working with Carroll Shelby to produce the AC Cobra, and they chose to call the company Cobra as a tribute to that."

The company had not been running for long when Geoff received a call from a well-known film studio, asking him to create a unique pair of very special seats for a forthcoming film. Amid the tightest secrecy, the young designer created a futuristic, high-backed chair, which summed up the styles of the 1970s perfectly. Tall, deep and angular, streamlined yet functional, they looked exactly the sort of thing that you would expect to see in an intergalactic spaceship embarking on voyages light years away.

Buoyed this success, the company moved to its present premises at Halesfield in 1978. Six years later another big breakthrough came when the company was approached by the Austin Rover Group to produce seats for the MG Metro 6R4 rally car. While the car had mixed fortunes on the rally circuit, posting a respectable third place in the 1985 Lombard RAC Rally, but failing to repeat the success, it did lead to Cobra quickly becoming established as a leading manufacturer of specialist rally seats.

"Our specialist seats can cost upwards of £4,000, but they are seats that can win races," said Mark.

"They are first and foremost a safety product, so we have to make them strong, but they have to be lightweight as well.

"At the start of races you will see drivers taking their watches off before they get into the car to save weight.

"But it is these tiny differences which can be the difference between coming first and second in a race."

One of Cobra's latest clients is Lewis Hamilton's brother Nicholas, who has overcome disability to carve out a motorsport career of his own.

"He suffers from cerebral palsy, so we designed a special custom-made seat to provide extra support," said Mark, who joined the family firm in 1989.

Another growth market in recent years has been kitting out the football stadia with the plush seats which now adorn the dugouts.

Mark said he first got the idea after spotting novelty car-style seats at the ground of German side Kaiserslautern.

"I approached Manchester United and offered to install the seats free of charge, if we could get our branding on them, and they agreed," he said.

"That was in 2007, and about 18 months later we started getting calls from other clubs.

"We charge around £500 per seat, they are heated, and offer cooling and massage as well. But I also identified the potential for commercial sponsorship, which means that the sponsors will not only pay for the seat, but they will also pay another £500 to the club just to have their name on show."

Telford United, Shrewsbury Town, Wolves, Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion all now have Cobra seats in the dugout, as well as the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City.

Lifelong Wolves van Jason Ball, who works as a buyer for the company, admits that he is often focused on the seats while at Molineux.

"I keep turning round to my dad during the game and saying 'they're our seats'.

The company is now in talks with Lucas Films to produce an office chair based on the Falcon seats.