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About Us

Who We Are and Where We Started

Century Performance Center, Inc. (CPC) was founded in Ventura, California, in the 11th month of 1989. The Ventura County area was a hotbed of many great performance part manufacturers that included ARP, JAZ, Borla, Paxton, Wilwood, AR Inc, SI Valves, Aceomatic, Duttweiler Performance and more. CPC was created to find and develop horsepower. The initial effort was to address the demand for engines we asked to build for drag racing and circle track racers, commercial fleet accounts, and our friends—and it was getting a little out of control. We needed the benefits of an actual business name, the improved buying power, and the benefits of a “real” business name and location. Most of our early customers were corporate accounts with fleet trucks, and local drag racing and street racers. They appreciated the knowledge, performance, and reliability we provided for them to win races! The business name developed from trying to get a logo that looked good as “21st Century Performance.” That idea failed miserably as we tried to develop a comparable logo. Having only fair graphic skills back then, generating a nice-looking logo did not happen. So came the shorter version, “Century Performance Center”.

Why We Are Now Located In Reno, Nevada?

A couple of needs were behind the move to Reno. One was that California bureaucrats sometimes have a way of strangling businesses, especially those in the automotive industry. A business that uses a simple aerosol spray periodically that releases something into the atmosphere sees considerable scrutiny. We have always been environmentally conscious, but after being threatened with fines for spray painting an engine block without a paint booth, we exceeded a reasonable level of tolerance. The second reason was the continued and increasing gang problems and lack of real community involvement to develop youth activities and opportunities in the area. We lived in a great community, but I also had young children at the time and the older local politicians were trying to turn Ventura County into the retirement capital of the world. It became increasingly obvious that it was time to move.

Reno became a logical choice after visiting family who lives close to the area and finding that we enjoyed the community here. Backed up against the Sierra Nevada mountain range, Lake Tahoe is about an hour away, and plenty of kid-related opportunities created a desire to investigate the Reno-Sparks area more thoroughly. Northern Nevada loves businesses, especially those that are NOT casino related. The area reaches out with open arms to businesses that are not gaming properties (casinos) and does not try to extract exorbitant fees and bureaucratic processes that prevent the efficient operation and management of businesses. Additionally, the area is one of the strictest when it comes to EPA issues, but not in such a way that regulations are too extreme or beyond what someone’s own common sense can’t understand. The weather and altitude have their drawbacks – we get snow during the winter months and our altitude is over 5000 feet above sea level. Our local track is at 4000′ (which usually corrects to over 6,000′), so engine tuning presented some interesting learning curves, especially when considering that our past stomping ground was only a few hundred feet over sea level.

Our Goals:

Our goals are quite simple – we want to be thought of favorably by automotive enthusiasts and be one of their first choices when shopping for brand-name products, detailed technical support, responsible advice, or just simple education. With complete product information, technical support before and after the sale, and the capacity to support those who may purchase their products elsewhere, we are admired by many. It is a great compliment (though it does not help pay our bills) when our competitors refer customers to our site to fix the errors that their own sales and support staff have generated, either by selling the wrong products or giving incorrect support information. Many of our suppliers refer customers with support issues to our website. Why? Because we care enough not just to sell you the product, but to make sure you understand what you are purchasing, how it fits, how to use it, and what not to do. Sure, our prices are competitive, and in many cases, lower than our competition, but we excel in product and customer support issues!

You will not see the BS and gimmicks here, just the best products, the best service, and hopefully an enjoyable website experience for our current and future customers.

We welcome all of you!

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