THEY. ARE. COMING.

The Ferraris. And the Lamborghinis. And the Maseratis. And 10,000 people.

A tidal wave of automotive dream machines is coming to West Hartford on Sunday, June 24, for the 18th annual Concorso Ferrari & Friends event. Each year, owners of exotic Italian supercars gather to raise funds for Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. This year’s fundraising efforts will raise awareness and support for the new Infusion and Dialysis facilities planned at Connecticut Children’s.

One of the highlights of the event, which is free and open to the public, is the “Pagani Patient Parade” in which 40 Connecticut Children’s patients get a chance to ride in these incredible cars into the heart of West Hartford on LaSalle Road where they receive a red-carpet welcome. The festivities will begin at 10 am and conclude at 3 pm.

Welcome, Horacio Pagani

This event is always exciting, but this year there is even more reason than usual for anticipation: Horacio Pagani will be attending. He is the founder of Pagani Automobili, makers of some of the most desirable sports cars on the road: the Zonda and the new Huayra. The Huayra, in particular, is the stuff of car fantasies, as much art as engineering. Its body is made of a combination of carbon fiber and titanium, and every nut and bolt inside is made of titanium.

Each wheel is hand-carved from a block of aluminum. One reviewer described the interior as “a Victorian’s idea of the 23rd century.” The car comes in several variants with increasingly large engines and price tags. The Pearl version has an engine that produces 1,350 horsepower and propels the car to 60 miles per hour in 2.2 seconds, almost faster than you can say the words, on its way to 248 miles per hour. That model sells for $4.7 million. Supercars don’t get any more super than that.

It is, in fact, appropriate that Mr. Pagani is coming to West Hartford, as the majority of the Pagani cars in the United States are in Connecticut. But he won’t just be an observer: You can join him at a cocktail reception in his honor at Delamar West Hartford on Saturday, June 23, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. To learn more, visit Connecticut Children’s Medical Center Foundation website at connecticutchildrens.org/concorso.