According to Frank J. Berto in 'The Dancing Chain', the Centurion story starts in 1969, when Raleigh Industries of America was looking at a Japanese source for the Grand Prix. An order was placed for 2,000 bicycles, but TI-Raleigh in England killed the project, leaving the sales agent, Mitchel Weiner, with 2,000 bicycles painted in Grand Prix colours. He placed Centurion decals on them, sold them for a huge profit and shortly thereafter formed Western State Imports.