too many rims, not enough customers, and too many varieties in inventory that don't sell.
Overhead, lack of day two upgrades, and ridiculous competition...
Say it anyway you like, in any perspective, and it won't matter.
Center Line, one of the coolest looking rims in the 80s, is out of business.
Jegs confirms it, "Unfortunately for all of us automotive and truck enthusiasts Center Line Wheels recently has ceased operation and is currently no longer in business. JEGS has a limited inventory of many styles and sizes of Center Line Wheels in-stock at drastically reduced pricing ready to ship today."
$280 a rim? Gtfoh. Nope. And that is why they are outta business. How does a rim they've been making for 30 some years still go for what you used to be able to buy a pair for? 25 years ago when I last bought a set of 4, I paid around 120 apiece. I know the costs of a lot of things go up, but not when it is already designed, molded, stamped, engineered and tested. Sure, some things like distribution and other incidental costs have risen, but the making of it? That is subject to efficiency of scale. Am I wrong?
http://www.thedrive.com/sheetmetal/11704/it-looks-like-center-line-wheels-has-gone-dark
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cll-055854542/overview/
Back in the late 70's/early 80's I had a 56 Chevy that I turned into a gasser street rod. This has been my grandmother's car since new. Stupid high schooler ruined a peach. Anyways, Centerlines were the hot setup then, I had 15x12 on the back with "massive" (for the time) Mickey Thompson 50's, and 15x5.5 in the front with Michelin radials intended for VW Bugs. Wheels had that brushed aluminum glow that looked so cool under the street lights. A buddy worked at a local speed shop (Tognotti's, remember them?) and got them at the employee discount, but even then they were expensive.
ReplyDeleteConstruction was two slabs of aluminum riveted together around a steel hub, with silicon sealer used to keep them mostly airtight. But they sure looked cool...
Don't see them at the racetrack much any more, instead I see new forged/CNC'd pieces that are probably half the weight and twice as strong.
Company will be missed, but I'm surprised they lasted this long. Buggy whips and such...
I'm surprised they didn't do a merger or sell out to someone. But so many companies have went under, and merged and MSD/ Holley / Accel has so damn many I can't recall them all. Lots of the old companies just could not adapt, or make it on their own
DeleteMy guess is they had offers to merge or sell, but the owners didn't like the offers.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing of real value Centerline had was the name. They didn't have revolutionary technology (any more), and the buying company surely had better manufacturing as well as stronger sales and distribution channels.
So the owners likely rode the thing into the ground, thinking they'd probably take in more in the ensuing years than the buy-out offers. Only problem with that strategy is it leaves the employees and suppliers high and dry. so, in step the lawyers, who are the only ones to benefit from this sad tale.