Commodore Snags Original Tooling to Bring Back the Commodore 64C — In Ultimate Form

The reborn Commodore, under the leadership of vintage computing enthusiast and YouTuber Christian "Peri Fractic" Simpson, has announced its second product — which puts Gideon Zweijtzer's FPGA-powered Ultimate 64 motherboard in a housing built using the injection-molding tooling used to build the original Commodore 64C.

"The [original Commodore] 64C molding was created using a two-point flow pattern that resulted in the plastic cooling unevenly in the original production run, creating feint, semi-circular, flow marks that have largely gone unnoticed," Simpson, president, chief executive officer, and chief product officer of the new Commodore, explains. "By using the original tooling, we;re even bringing these back. Today these newly formed marks are a seal of authenticity – the unmistakable signature of genuine Commodore parts born from original molds."

The Commodore 64C Ultimate marks Commodore's second product launch, following the release of the Commodore 64 Ultimate four months ago — a modernized version of Commodore's best-selling eight-bit home computer, which swaps hard-to-find components like the Sound Interface Device (SID) chip for gateware recreations running on an internal FPGA. Built around an existing project, Gideon Zweijtzer's Ultimate 64, the result is something that looks faithful to the original while bringing in new features including wired and wireless networking, a mechanical keyboard, built-in memory expansion, the ability to overclock the CPU up to 64MHz, and HDMI video and audio output.

If anyone had a checklist of features and upgrades they'd like to see from a second-generation Commodore 64 Ultimate, they may be disappointed: the new Commodore 64C Ultimate is exactly the same hardware internally, with the only change being aesthetic. Following in the footsteps of the original Commodore, the Commodore 64C features a slimmer but deeper case and revised keyboard — in a style that will be familiar to fans of Commodore's 16-bit Amiga family of home computers.

"The Commodore 64 Ultimate has tapped into a nostalgia not just for a piece of technology, but for a time when technology served us not enslaved us; when it challenged us and helped us grow," boasts Simpson. "But there’s still something comforting about the tangible side of that nostalgia; a visual reminder of the time we long to return to. And for many users, that memory is intrinsically tied to the C64C. Soon they can have one at their fingertips once again."

As with the Commodore 64 Ultimate, the Commodore 64C Ultimate is opening for pre-order at a discount over planned retail pricing in three variants: the BASIC Beige matches the aesthetic of the original at $299.99; the Starlight Edition features a transparent case and built-in RGB LED lighting at $349.99; and the Founder's Edition is inspired by the original Commodore's gold-plated milestone model, with gold keycaps, a "gently translucent" white case, and gold-plated Commodore and Power badges.

Orders are now open on the Commodore website; the company has also pledged to announce "a number of new initiatives" in the near future, "from platforms to accessories" — but is, at the time of writing, tight-lipped about what these may be.