If you're into vintage autos, you’re at the right place for the next few weeks.

Between Jan. 11 and 29, the largest collection of classic car buffs can attend five auto auctions within a few miles drive. Here’s a preview of the automobile auctions and their features.

Silver Auctions

If you want to remain local and low-key, Mitch Silver’s event at Fort McDowell Radisson and Casino might be to your liking.

Silver has gained a reputation for offering affordable collector cars. His auction company, based in Spokane, Wash., has been in business since 1979. The former college administrator’s first auction featured 120 cars and now produces 30 auctions annually in 10 Western states and Canada.

Silver continues to grow because it fills a much-needed auction alternative to buyers and sellers looking for an environment where they are personally comfortable.  Consigners choose whether to place a reserve on their vehicles.

Vehicles will begin registerring from 3 to 6 p.m., Wed., Jan. 14, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 15. Bidding starts at noon, Friday, Jan.16 and continues through Monday, Jan. 19.

 A preliminary list of offerings includes a 1940 Willys Coupe, a 1957 DeSoto Firesweep, a 1932 St. Regis Brougham Studebaker and a ’39 Buick Special.  Admission for spectators is $18 daily or $25 for a four-day pass.

Russo and Steele

Russo and Steele advertise that 500 European sports, American muscle cars, hot rods and customs will cross the auction block in five days.

The ninth annual event, “Sports and Muscle,” will be held in white tents off Scottsdale Road, south of the intersection of Scottsdale Road and North Loop 101.

Gates open at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 14, for preview and a benefit for registered bidders for Phoenix Children’s Hospital Emily Center.

Admission tickets are $20. The intimate setting in the round allows bidders to witness the proceedings up-close. Only registered bidders may enter the bidders’ tent. Bidding passes are $150.

The star-studded lineup includes a 1963 Shelby Cobra CSX2009 that has a significant racing career; a 2004 NASCAR Nextel winning car of Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Atlanta Motor Speedway and an original 1965 Ford Mustang A/FX Holman/Moody Race Car.

A wide variety of vendors also will be on hand at Russo and Steele.

Barrett-Jackson

The 38th annual Barrett- Jackson Classic Car Auction leads the way into the auction world when family value day begins Sunday, Jan. 11, at WestWorld in Scottsdale.

Last year’s auction brought in more than $88 million in sales and attracted 280,000 visitors.

The event is more than an auction by providing luxury vendors, fashion shows and “The Garage,” a nightspot.

Among the features at the 2009 auction is the first production Ford Thunderbird. The 1955 T-bird was produced by Ford Sept. 9, 1954, and represents the birth of Ford’s sports car program.

The ’55 T-bird will be joined by about 1,000 collector vehicles and automotive memorabilia.

Other featured automobiles include NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon’s 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, the 1964 Cadillac hearse used to take John F. Kennedy’s body to the Dallas airport after he was assassinated, Jerry Seinfeld’s 1994 Porsche 911 Speedster and Sydney Allard’s personal racer from 1947.

A 1929 Ford f-AT-E Tri-Motor airplane also will be sold at the auction. It will not appear in Scottsdale due to logistics of getting it here from its home community in North Carolina. The historic aircraft was built as a private transport, then later was damaged at Pearl Harbor, restored and used in TWA’s 20th anniversary celebration, carried smoke jumpers in Montana and was featured in the Wings and Wheels museum.

Tickets range from $160 for an eight-day pass to $15 for the Jan. 11 family value day. Discounted tickets are available after 5 p.m.

RM Vintage Cars

Casual spectators are not encouraged to attend the show held at Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix.

This show focuses on the higher-end of the collector car market in North America. Several of the 100-vehicle lineup have asking prices of more than $300,000. A 1963 Grand Sport Corvette, one of only five built to take on Carroll Shelby’s Cobra, is a rare find.

Admission is a $100 purchase of the show catalog, which includes two entry tickets.

Gooding

Among the early consignments is a collection of more than 20 vehicles from the Ron Van Kregten Estate. Cars include an extremely rare covered headlight 1960 Ferrari 260 GT SWB California Spider; a 1953 Allard J2X and a 1937 Cord 812 SC Phaeton.

Gooding & Company catalogs are $75 and admit two to the viewing and auction. General admission to the viewing and auction can be purchased at the tent for $30 per person.