Thomas Harrington had set up as coachbuilders in Brighton in 1897, mainly for commercial vehicles and trailers and buses. However, cars did also carry Harrington coachwork including such prestigious brands as Austro-Daimler, Bentley, Bugatti and Rolls-Royce. The bus side of the business was Harrington's mainstay in the 1950s, but since Harrington also ran a Rootes dealership. In 1961 the Robins and Day Group purchased Thomas Harrington and this heightened the relationship with the Rootes Group because the Rootes family owned Robins and Day separately from the Rootes Group manufacturing companies. Thomas Harrington decided to go into car manufacturing in 1961 because of a declining bus market, and also because it is quicker to build a car and therefore to generate income. Two projects came out of this move into a new market, (1) the Harrington Alpine, and (2) the Dove GTR4 based on the Triumph TR4. However, Rootes pressured Harrington to stop building for rivals Triumph and lost its interest in the Alpine. Then the Harrington family lost its grip on their business within the Robin and Day group, and Desmond Rootes joined the board. The final Harrington Alpines were completed by Robins and Day employees and by 1965 Harrington was finished as a car builder. Robins and Day concentrated on car sales and servicing.