The serial numbers do not relfect the production run for a model. They reflect the production for the factory. Centurion was a contract manufactured bicycle, so there are other brands included in the count. Centurion production was also spread to multiple factories, based on price level. About all you can say, based on serial numbers, is that the factory where the Ironmen were built had a maximum capacity of about 260,000 bicycles per year in the late 1980s.

While I can believe the discount statement, the value statement is not true. For any given model/year there were comparable competitors at the same price. What Centurion had that the others didn't, were the Ironman and Dave Scott's endorsements. That's what really sold the model and trickled down to the others in the line.