Commodore C65 Prototype: The Swedish Auction of May 2019

Originally published 14 May 2019 · Updated 6 November 2026

In May 2019, a reportedly fully working Commodore C65 prototype appeared on eBay from a seller in Sweden. The computer, a remarkable survivor of Commodore's abandoned C64 successor project, was accompanied by photographs and a video demonstration. The auction also offered a glimpse of how rare development machines move through collectors' hands.

A rare computer with an unusually useful backstory

The Commodore 65, also known as the C64DX, was developed around 1990–1991 as a more capable successor to the Commodore 64. It combined a faster 8-bit processor, improved graphics and sound and a built-in 3.5-inch floppy drive. The project was cancelled before a retail launch, which is why surviving prototypes attract such interest. Our Commodore C65 research homepage examines the machine and its place in Commodore history.

The May 2019 listing (eBay item 223509001295) described a clean, working example from Sweden. The seller said the machine had been acquired from someone associated with the local computer trade. Contemporary reporting adds a more specific recollection: around 1995, Stefan Sandinge of Sandinge's Import & Data reportedly acquired a small group of C65 machines and advertised them in the Swedish Commodore magazine Åtta bitar. That is the seller's recollection as reported at the time, rather than independently established provenance for this individual unit.

Condition and the video evidence

The listing described the computer as being in excellent cosmetic condition, without obvious yellowing or scratches, and claimed that the disk drive and audio output were working. The seller's contemporary description included the following:

“This unit is in perfect shape (no scratches or yellowing of plastic) and is fully functional, including audio out, disk drive, etc.”

Those are claims made for the sale. A short demonstration can show that the computer starts and performs certain functions, but it is not equivalent to comprehensive hardware testing. That distinction matters with unfinished prototype electronics, especially where ROM and board revisions may differ.

What interests me most is the demonstration of the computer's different personalities. It shows simple BASIC commands producing sound and a transition from the C65's native environment into a Commodore 64 compatibility mode. The C65 was intended to retain much of the familiar C64 experience while opening the door to more advanced hardware. The practical limits of that compatibility are discussed in our C65-to-C64 compatibility analysis and operating modes guide.

eBay auction results and bidding history

The original page records an opening price of €15,000, eight bidders and stronger bidding as the auction approached its close. Its preserved bidding-history screenshot remains the primary evidence for those observations. Reporting published before the auction ended also documents the high asking and bidding levels, consistent with the scarcity of these machines.

A reader comment posted to a contemporary report on 19 May 2019 gives a closing figure of €20,550 (approximately US$22,950 at the exchange rate cited by that commenter). This is useful corroborating context, but the amount is attributed to that reader report; the eBay archive and bidding screenshot should be consulted before treating it as an independently certified transaction value.

Importantly, the serial number of this particular example is not established by the evidence preserved in this article. It should not be identified as serial 000097, which belongs to a separate C65 record on this site. The correct distinguishing reference here is the Swedish 2019 auction and eBay listing number 223509001295.

What the sale tells us about collecting prototypes

A mass-produced Commodore 64 can be compared with thousands of examples. A C65 prototype is a different proposition: each surviving unit may carry a particular board revision, firmware build or development history. To collectors, working condition, cosmetic state and credible provenance therefore have meaning beyond the price paid. The video is valuable because it captures an individual specimen behaving as a computer, not just sitting behind glass.

The broader C65 collection is best read as a set of individual case histories. Compare this working Swedish unit with the 2017 serial-3 auction, where a missing VIC-III chip made the machine non-working. They are different sorts of historical artefacts, and the contrast shows why condition and completeness must accompany any quoted sale figure.

Sources and historical record

• Archived eBay auction listing 223509001295 — original seller's description and photographs (availability of the snapshot may vary).
• HotHardware, 9 May 2019 — contemporary report including the seller's Swedish provenance story.
• AfterDawn, 11 May 2019 — contemporary auction coverage and a later reader comment reporting the result.

Archive note: the article originally appeared in May 2019. This revision preserves the original photographs and historical account while separating first-party auction evidence, seller statements and later secondary reporting.

Article tags: Retrocomputing Commodore C65 Auction history