America has often been referred to as the “Great Melting Pot”. More recently, it has also been called the “Great Salad Bowl” (for those of you trying to stay PC). Regardless, America is a nation where many cultures come together to make some truly unique creations that inevitably become the envy of the world. The De Tomaso Pantera is one of the best examples of American engineering combining a multitude of magnificent cars.

Pictures: Chris DeMorro

In the 1960’s, Ford was trying to increase its presence on the world stage by purchasing Ferrari. But scion Enzo Ferrari backed out at the last minute, so Ford did what was only natural; build a better car that could beat a Ferrari. The result was the GT40. This merely whetted the appetite for Ford in the exotic car market though, and they soon sought partners to bring ever more exotics to American shores. Enter De Tomaso.

In 1970, De Tomaso introduced the Pantera, a low-slung exotic car powered by a mid-mounted Ford 351W engine. The car was sold through Lincoln-Mercury dealerships, and it shot De Tomaso into the spotlight, albeit briefly, as a maker of amazing exotic cars. Kent Webster, a contractor from Virginia Beach, got his first ride in a Pantera at the impressionable age of 16. “I found my dream car,” says Kent. “But it would be a long time before I got to own one.”

Indeed, life, as it tends to do, got in the way of Kent’s supercar dreams. Kent started a home contracting business, got married, had a daughter, got divorced, and after completely renovating his Virginia Beach home, he found himself with a lot of free time. “I needed a project car, so I started looking for an AMC AMX. I liked cars that were a it different.” One of Kent’s friends knew he was a fan of the Pantera though, and when he came across one for sale, he informed his friend of the car. “It was twice what I wanted to spend,” says Kent. “But it had only a handful of miles, and my daughter encouraged me to get it…to keep me busy,” he says with a laugh.

Keep him busy it did. While the car maintained most of its original paint, he found plenty of little things to keep him busy on the car, sinking thousands of hours over four years into the machine. Things like polishing the transmission, powder coating body parts, and cleaning away decades of dust and grime kept him plenty busy. He even built himself a garage strictly for the Pantera. During that time, he met his current girlfriend Patti, who upon seeing the car, made a prediction. She wrote it down, hid it away, and waited for the day she knew would come. “I told Patti that I wanted more power, and she pulled this piece of paper that said “More power for the Pantera.”

More power would come, but it would not be easy. First, Kent had to remove the original engine. “Thanks to the internet though, I found that if you hook up a hoist to a certain part of the header outlets, the engine and transmission come out perfectly balanced.” The Pantera’s huge rear engine bay was also a help. “This was the same ZF transmission as the GT40…but it was put in upside down to fit,” he says. The transmission alone can cost upwards of $8,000.

Knowing he wanted more power, Kent decided to go with a 393 Cleveland stroker engine. While the 393 stroker is a popular swap, most of the time it uses a 351W as the base engine. The Cleveland is often cited as having thin cylinder walls, but Kent wasn’t worried. He used Edelbrock cylinder heads, a custom ground Comp Cams camshaft, Probe forged crank, SRP pistons, and a slew of other high end parts.

The end result is an engine that makes 525 horsepower…and looks damn good inside the Pantera. Kent has also added Koni shocks that dropped the car one-inch, and improved the handling so he can enjoy the car on tracks like VIR. And with just 30,000 miles on the odometer, and mostly original paint (save for the passenger’s side door and front fender, which Kent wrecked himself while trying to unload the car from a trailer), this is a one-of-a-kind Pantera that still manages to look all-original.