A group of very connected and (naturally) wealthy supercar aficionados were treated to a private debut of the Pagani Huayra supercar, its first official trip on U.S. soil, this week at the Art Center College of Design.

Horatio Pagani himself was on hand for the event, which showed the most recent of his handmade, hyper-fast supercars to the group. The Huayra, unlike the Zonda before it, will be legal for use on U.S. roads (or maybe not, if the NHTSA's refusal to waive airbag requirements throws a wrench into the company's plans), and Pagani is aiming to build sales to stratospheric heights, relatively speaking.

How many cars is Pagani aiming for? About 40 per year. That's not much, but it's actually quite an increase if you consider the size of the Pagani factory, the methods with which the cars are built (labor-intensive, largely by hand), and the fact that Pagani built roughly that many Zondas over its entire model run. Without U.S. sales, however, the increased sales plan may fall flat. The NHTSA's denial of a hardship waiver for airbag compliance could delay U.S. sales of the Huayra until 2015.

For more info on the Huayra, check out our preview.

[NY Times Wheels Blog, TTAC]