Ruben's Retro Corner
Commodore 64 "Aldi" (1987)

The Commodore 64 "Aldi" is the popular designation for a variant of the Commodore 64 sold in the supermarket chain in 1987.

The machine is a bit of an oddball. Commodore wed a motherboard and keyboard from early-revision 64Cs with an older-style breadbin case, and sold them in Germany through Aldi and a few other supermarket chains in 1987. As an Aldi fan, I can absolutely picture these machines being sold in the middle isle of shame between hiking boots and economy-sized bags of pfeffernusse.

Confusion abounds online about these machines. I wrote a post about how these cases were indeed grey, after reading people say they had the same cases of original breadbins. Other sites claim they pre-date the 64C, despite that machine first coming out in 1986. Either way, Aldi 64s were manufactured by Commodore USA and imported, perhaps to use up an oversupply of spare parts. They've since become a bit of a collectable on account of their weird configuration and history. Mine has since yellowed to that "coffee milk" colour, which I oddly like.

My Aldi 64 is empty, I have to confess! I snagged an original keyboard and case from Europe, though it didn't come with a motherboard. My plan is to use the chassis for one of those Commodore 64 replacement boards, and all-modern ICs as a fun experiment.

Photos

Parts

System

Component	Part	Year	State	Memo
Name	jan	-		German! And was his first :)
Case	Stock	1987
Dimensions	40.4 x 7.5 x 21.6	-	-	W x H x D
Keyboard	Stock	1987
Motherboard	-	-		To be bought

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