Harrington Gathering Best Yet - calling all cars and coaches!

The best Harrington Gathering yet?

• Likely to exceed the 19 coaches that gathered in 2023

• Event marks the 60th anniversary of the cessation of coachbuilding activities

• The car’s the star too - rare Harrington Alpines likely to exceed the five in 2023

• The exceptionally rare Triumph GTR4 Dove will have pride of place!

• Related displays from the Rootes Archive

• ‘Calling all Harrington cars and coaches’

Transport Museum Wythall is delighted to announce the return of the well-respected Harrington Gathering on Sunday May 17th 2026, an infrequent event that showcases the products of Thomas Harrington Ltd of Hove, West Sussex. This event marks the 60th anniversary of the cessation of coachbuilding activities.

The Harrington Gathering 2026 is set to become the best yet. There is already significant interest, indicating that this year’s event will be considerably bigger than 2023. This year we are particularly keen to find more cars – the Sunbeam Harrington Alpine, a rare coachbuilt grand tourer and, in particular, the Triumph GTR4 Dove, an exceptionally rare, fixed head coupe version of the Triumph TR4. Five Alpines and one GTR4 turned up in 2023, we hope to better that record in 2026.

Starting in Brighton in 1897, Thomas Harrington was a highly respected coachbuilder whose designs rose to fame when the art-deco style ‘Sackville Works’ opened in Hove in 1930. Always a family firm, its legacy started with then unique dorsal-finned coach bodies, before culminating in the 1960s with the iconic Cavalier and Grenadier designs - two closely related models that helped revolutionise coach design in the early 1960’s, before going on to influence other manufacturers for decades to come.

Harrington also worked closely with the Rootes Group. Having been a Rootes agent since the thirties, they started building the Sunbeam Harrington Alpine (and the Triumph GTR4 with Doves of Wimbledon), with sleek, aerodynamic fibreglass fastback roofs.

Harrington produced several distinct variations on different generations of the Sunbeam Alpine – types A-D. Type B, introduced in 1961, celebrated Sunbeam’s win of the ‘Index of Thermal Efficiency’ at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Its radical bodywork removed the rear fins and added distinct air vents to the rear quarter panels, just 250 were produced.

Roger Thomas, representing Harrington owners and helping organise the 2026 Gathering, said: ‘We brought the Harrington Gathering to Wythall in 2023, after it had lain dormant since 2016. We were absolutely thrilled with the support of both owners and the visiting public, with many entries travelling from as far away as Lancashire, Norfolk and Cornwall. Transport Museum Wythall has also been most welcoming, providing the perfect stage upon which to host such a prestigious event.‘

TMW Trustee Denis Chick said: It’s an honour for TMW to stage the Harrington Gathering, who can’t fail to be impressed by the design of these wonderful machines? We’ve already received considerable interest, indicating that this year’s event will be considerably bigger than that in 2023. If you have a Harrington coach, car or commercial, then we would be delighted to hear from you - you would be made most welcome.’

Owners can register their vehicles by visiting:

wythall.org.uk/entryform