This is the first in a series of previews of classic car auctions in January. 

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & … ” Oops, of course we mean Barrett & Jackson, not Barnum & Bailey. But while one is “The Greatest Show on Earth” and the other merely stages “The World’s Greatest Collector Car Auctions,” both provide multi-ring, circus-style entertainment for children  — and car collectors — of all ages.

Sure, next month Barrett-Jackson moves its auction block from a big old tent-style structure into a dazzling new 130,000-square-foot arena that was part of a $52 million upgrade to the WestWorld facilities by the City of Scottsdale, Arizona. Fear not, however, the circus continues. This year, the 43rd for Barrett-Jackson, there even will be a carousel, which you’ll be able to ride — provided, of course, that you are the high bidder — and there also will be bull-riding cowboys providing late-night entertainment over in the newly completed Equidome.

You’ll notice the changes as soon as you arrive at WestWorld, where the activities begin Sunday, January 12, with the annual Family Value Day from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Monday, Bret Michaels will provide the entertainment at the auction gala. Bidding on some 1,400 vehicles begins at 2 p.m. Tuesday and runs to the late afternoon on Sunday. Over the course of the week, some 250,000 people are expected to attend the circus — err, auction.

Instead of the old and relatively narrow entry way, you’ll be greeted by a set of structures that stretch eight-tenths of a mile.

“We’re in the new building but we still have the old tent,” said Barrett-Jackson chairman Craig Jackson, who said there will be structures stretching from the old building to the new one, and from there some 600 feet out into what used to be a parking lot.

“That’s eight-tenths of a mile all indoors,” he said.

Because of the new buildings, the ride-and-drive area has been moved from the upper lot to the lower pavement.

Jackson also said that the “portapotties are gone,” with the exception of a few down on the lower field. The new buildings include real restrooms.

Also gone, he said, are all those noisy electrical generators, except for the few that provide backup power for the equipment used to televise the auction.

And even the television package has changed. Gone (at least in the United States) is the Speed Channel. Instead, the Scottsdale auction will be televised by various other Fox channels, including Fox Business, the National Geographic Channel and even the primary and over-the-air Fox broadcast channel that shows everything from NFL games to American Idol.

Speaking of American idols, some of the most iconic American cars will be featured during Fox Broadcast’s live coverage on Saturday.

Barrett-Jackson’s star cars, the Salon Collection, will be split into two groups with American cars up for bidding during the Fox Broadcast in the afternoon and European classics and sports cars during the usual prime-time Saturday night extravaganza, which will be televised by National Geographic.

“We’ve supersized Saturday,” Jackson said.

The Salon Collection gets its own 216-page catalog. That’s in addition to the 600-plus page catalog that covers the rest of the auction docket.

Those Salon cars range from a 1929 Duesenberg to a gull-wing Mercedes-Benz 300SL and from a Shelby King Cobra to the Snake and Mongoose Hot Wheels funny cars and their transporters.

“We’ve had an incredible journey this past year with the Snake and Mongoose,” Jackson said. “The first premiere of the movie was at Hot August Nights [where Barrett-Jackson staged its newest auction during the popular and annual hot-rod festival].

“Then we took both cars and car haulers and drove them down the drag strip at Indy where all the [famed] grudge matches started in the U.S. Nationals. There was another movie premiere night at Indianapolis and all the modern and legendary drag racers came. That was truly incredible.

“Snake [Don Prudhomme] and Mongoose [Tom McEwen] changed drag racing by bringing non-automotive sponsorship — and showmanship — into it.

“I don’t know what the cars and transporters will bring,” Jackson added. “I put them into the wild-card category, but they’re truly a piece of American history.”

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The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum presents a celebration of the Ford GT40, the groundbreaking race car that famously beat Ferrari at Le Mans, in a special Racing Legends event at noon on January 11, 2014,  at the Philadelphia-based museum.

Well-known GT40 expert Greg Kolasa will lead a discussion on the development and history of the GT40. Kolasa, who wrote The Definitive Shelby Mustang Guide 1965-1970, is Shelby American Automobile Club historian and registrar.

The GT40, so named because of its roof height in inches, holds a special place in the history of American auto racing. After Enzo Ferrari had imperiously snubbed Ford’s efforts to acquire his automobile business, Ford set out to beat Ferrari at its most-hallowed racing venue, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Led by Carroll Shelby, who had already trounced Ferrari with the Cobra Daytona coupe for a GT class win in 1965, the GT40 team completely dominated the 1966 running of Le Mans with an outright win that saw them cross the finish line in first, second and third places. The GT40s were back the following year, and again won Le Mans for 1967.

GT40s were raced by privateers for years after, and today the GT40 remains one of the most hotly sought-after collector cars for vintage racing.

Both of the Simeone Museum’s GT40s, a Mk. II and a Mk. IV, will be displayed during the January 11 program and, weather permitting, they will be taken out for demonstration runs after the presentation.

For more information about the museum and the GT40 event, see www.simeonemuseum.org. 

Dana Mecum has tried more than once to become a significant player in the sales of classic motorcycles. For example, twice in the last three years his Monterey auction has included collections of 70 or more motorcycles.

That was then. This is now: Mecum is buying MidAmerica Auctions, a motorcycle specialist with some 30 years in business. Mecum begins making his mark by presenting Mid-America’s 23rd annual Las Vegas motorcycle auction January 9-11 at the South Point Hotel.

In addition to motorcycle sales, the program includes Gene Romero’s West Coast flat-track motorcycle races.

Las Vegas becomes Motorcycle Central that week in January with Bonhams staging a one-day sale at Bally’s Las Vegas.

“Ron Christenson, the founder [of MidAmerica], has done this for 30 years,” Mecum said. “He is staying onboard as president. He knows the motorcycles and everybody who has them.

“Our success allows us to use our marketing to put his company on the next level.,” Mecum added. “Ron and I have worked together and he realizes this will help secure the company’s future.”

After trying to work motorcycles into his company’s classic car auctions, Mecum said he learned that “the core motorcycle guys want their own event.”

In 2013, MidAmerica’s Las Vegas event resulted in more than 400 sales for nearly $6 million.

With that in mind, but also mindful of the potential for cross-pollination, MidAmerica will stage a one-day classic motorcycle auction April 13 in Houston.

“We’re there for a car auction Thursday, Friday and Saturday [April 10-12],” Mecum said. “The motorcycle auction will be on Sunday. Car people who want to stay for the motorcycles can, and motorcycle people can come a day early if they want to take a look at the cars.”

Mecum knows that many car owners are adding a motorcycle or two to their collections.

“You can put one in your office, or in the lobby of your business, or even in your living room,” he said.

“Cars are moving into being looked at as pieces of art and the motorcycle is totally exposed. You look at it and you see its heart.”

The MidAmerica/Mecum sale at Las Vegas will offer more than 600 vintage motorcycles, including 20 from the George Pardos Collection representing “the evolution of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle,” dating from a 1911 7D Twin to a 1965 FL model (see photos).

Special guests at an auction dinner Thursday evening are Jean Davidson, granddaughter of one of the Harley-Davidson founders, and her son, Jon. Jean Davidson began riding at age 12,  at one time owned the largest Harley-Davidson dealership in Wisconsin and is the author of several books.

“Next across the block, ladies and gentlemen, is a pristine 1984 Plymouth Voyager, a rare SE model packed with all the options — full gauges, third-row seat, power-opening rear vent windows, wood-look exterior paneling, heavy-duty suspension, wire wheel covers and — taa daa — even a five-speed manual transmission.

“The five-speed was standard equipment, though very few customers did not opt for the three-speed automatic.

“Yes, this is the rarest of the rare first-year minivans, so let’s open the bidding at $50,000, shall we?”

Cough! Gasp! Even in the wildest moments of my imagination, I cannot bring myself to believe that the minivan ever will be considered a collectible classic car.

Well, I can see a couple of possible exceptions:

One would be the minivan, a Renault Espace, that the French automaker equipped in the mid-1990s with one of its 800-horsepower, V10 Formula One racing engines.

The other exception would be if the collector were the Smithsonian or some other museum committed to the display of the artifacts of American culture. (Or, in the case of the Renault Espace F1, in an auto museum in France, which is where that minivan is parked.)

Classic car collectors often start their collections with the car they wanted but didn’t get to drive back in high school. But who among those who grew up as part of the minivan generation even liked riding in one, let alone ever dreamed of driving one to the prom?

Oh, the minivan was practical enough, especially if you had more than two children, but it also was pretty much a stage-of-life vehicle that you fled as soon as you didn’t need all that room for your children’s booster seats or for car-pooling to soccer practices.

Collectible or not, the minivan turns 30 this model year, and in some states that qualifies it to wear classic car license plates.

“… Sold! And for a world-record price! Don’t fret if you missed on that one, because here comes aPontiac Trans Sports, the famed dust-buster minivan…”