Comedian Johnny Vegas steering course for evening at Derby classic car venue

The star will take part in an informal talk show style interview followed by a public Q&A session focusing on his TV series ‘Johnny Vegas: Carry on Glamping’, a spin-off from his hugely successful glamping venture ‘Field of Dreams’ in nearby Melbourne.

The intimate, one-off event at GNC’s premises in Osmaston Road, Derby, on Tuesday, August 6, is Johnny’s way of thanking the team at GNC for safely storing some of his classic glamping vehicles over the winter period.

Johnny has since gone on to heap praise on the Derby business, which occupies a vast industrial site that was formerly home to a Victorian ironworks and, more recently, the Rolls-Royce Heritage Centre.

During the evening, limited to only 200 ticket holders, the Lancashire-born comedian will lift the lid on his Melbourne-based passion project, his love of classic vehicles and will reveal why Derbyshire took pole position ahead of Yorkshire as the location for the second season of Johnny Vegas: Carry on Glamping.

Johnny said he fell in love with Derbyshire as soon as he arrived in Melbourne and is looking forward to exploring more of the surrounding areas.

“I’ve made many trips into Derby since opening the site, mainly to pick up items for the glampsite,” he said. “And I'm always adding to the vehicles when I’m here.”

“I’m just incredibly grateful that GNC had such amazing storage available so close to Melbourne. Their storage facilities are excellent and the team are so helpful to deal with.”

The Field of Dreams glamping site at Melbourne Hall has been a particular draw for petrolheads due to the unique vintage vehicles that Johnny has provided as glamping accommodation on site.

But during the winter season, those vehicles need to be protected from the elements – and fortunately GNC had spare storage capacity available among the dozens of other classic cars and supercars stored by private owners.

Rapidly evolving into a UK-renowned British motoring heritage project, GNC is home to workshops housing around 30 motor related specialist businesses, an exhibition and entertainment space, a cafe and, of course, one of the best environments for secure vehicle storage in the country.

Johnny was blown away by the facilities on offer. He said: “The intention was to put everything into winter storage that could be moved, as the season runs from April to early October.

“We stored the Citroen camper and five horsebox bathrooms at GNC. Patricia the Maltese Bus and our American school bus were also destined for the venue over winter but the ground was really wet, so we couldn’t get them off the field. Otherwise they’d have been there too.”

He added: “I'm looking forward to the event and meeting the whole team and seeing everything else the venue has to offer.”

The ‘Evening with...’ event will be hosted by Roger Lowe, estate development manager at Melbourne Hall, who will chat to Johnny about how Carry on Glamping started, where the vehicles came from, the level of work involved and how the Field of Dreams ended up at the Melbourne Hall estate after a season in Yorkshire.

Abi Whitt, GNC’s marketing and sales lead, said: "We can’t wait to welcome Johnny back to our heritage site for the event. It has been a pleasure to store his classic vehicles here in Derby and witness the passion he has for their restoration and preservation.

“Anyone who has watched Johnny’s journey on TV, from the start in 2021 to its Derbyshire relocation, will have witnessed his love and enthusiasm for beautiful old vehicles. This was demonstrated by the amount of love that went into Patricia the Maltese Bus, which is named after his mum.”

Both of Johnny’s sons, Michael and Tom, share his love of cars. Johnny said he was planning to take them on a tour of the facilities at GNC in the near future.

A regular programme of other events, both charged and free admission, takes place at the venue. These include the Rising Sun-day event on August 11th, that celebrates all things Japanese and a link to Toyota in Derby.

Alastair Campbell, one of the investors at Great Northern Classics, said: “GNC is a great new destination for the enthusiast, I should know, I am one!

"To host Johnny's vehicles was a thrill, seeing my Honda parked alongside, and I'm sure the event will be a lot of fun."

‘An Evening with Johnny Vegas’ runs from 6.15pm until 10.00pm on Tuesday, August 6. Tickets, priced £33.22, are strictly limited to 200 and are selling fast, so people are being urged to act fast. The entry price includes wood fired pizza, your first drink of the evening and free parking.

For more information and to book tickets visit: www.greatnorthernclassics.co.uk/event-evening-with-johnny-vegas-6th-august/.