Calling all Harrington Coaches & Buses - The Return of the Harrington Gathering at Transport Museum Wythall

Published: 30/11/2022

•    New event for 2023 – ‘Harrington Gathering 2023’
•    Iconic coaches and cars from Sunbeam and Triumph on display
•    First Gathering since 2016

Transport Museum Wythall is proud to announce the return of Harrington Gatherings, iconic events for iconic vehicles, with a call to all Harrington coach and car owners to come and join us on May 21st 2023. The 2023 Gathering (for decades a five-yearly event) is the first since 2016 and sees a move to the centre of England to ensure a wide variety of vehicles attending, along with enthusiasts who remember the golden age of coaching.

Starting in Brighton in 1897, Thomas Harrington was a highly-respected coachbuilder who’s 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 bodies and subsequently the Cavalier and Grenadier, two closely related models that helped revolutionise coach design in the early 1960’s, influencing other manufacturers for decades to come.

Harrington’s also worked with the Rootes Group. Having been a Rootes agent since the thirties, they started building the Sunbeam Harrington Alpine (and also the Triumph GTR4 with Doves of Wimbledon), with a ‘fastback’ GT conversion integrated into the bodywork. Examples of these cars will also be on display at the event. 

Roger Thomas, representing Harrington owners and helping organise the 2023 Gathering, said: ‘Entries from Cornwall to Lancashire are already confirmed to attend, and on display will be the products of what was arguably the finest coachbuilder of the 20th century.  This will range from pre-war products, some with the dorsal fins, through to the very last designs produced by the factory – lovingly restored in honour of Harrington and the operators who bought them’.

TMW Trustee Denis Chick said: 'It’s an honour for TMW to stage a Harrington Gathering, who can’t fail to be impressed by the design of these wonderful machines. If you have a Harrington coach, car or even a Commer/Harrington minibus, please come along.  And if your vehicle is off the road or in restoration you now have the winter months to bring it alive.’

Owners can register their vehicles now by going to bookings@wythall.org.uk

TMW’s full 2023 event list will be online at www.wythall.org.uk later in December.