Comedian Johnny pays tribute to heritage vehicle hub

Comedian, actor and self-proclaimed petrolhead Johnny Vegas has thanked Great Northern Classics for looking after his collection of classic glamping vehicles.

The heritage vehicle hub and storage facility in Osmaston Road safely stored some of Johnny’s vehicles over the winter period.

By way of thanks, he will take part in an informal talk show style interview, followed by a 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 on Tuesday, August 6.

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.

Ahead of his appearance, Johnny has heaped praise on Great Northern Classics, which occupies a vast industrial site that was formerly home to a Victorian ironworks and, more recently, the Rolls-Royce Heritage Centre.

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.

He said: “I’ve made many trips into Derby since opening the site, mainly to pick up items for the glampsite – and I’m always adding to the vehicles when I’m here.

“I’m just incredibly grateful that Great Northern Classics 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 Great Northern Classics had spare storage capacity available among the dozens of other classic cars and supercars stored by private owners.

Johnny 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.”

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, marketing and sales lead at Great Northern Classics, 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.”

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