So you were put in charge of making the 060 based amiga

[Hattig]

For the consumer version I would have gone with a 68030 (probably a 68EC030 for cost reasons). However I would have aimed to release an A1400 in late 1994 (for the holiday season), probably with a 28MHz 68030, 4MB RAM and a 1.76MB floppy drive, but otherwise keeping the same components as the A1200 to keep development costs down. Ship it with Sim CIty 2000 and a Doom clone.

In 2006 (for the holiday season), the A1600 would have had a 40MHz 68030 (a sad side effect of the high prices the 68060 commanded, and the high power requirements of the 68040). Remembering the cost of RAM back then, I don't know if 8MB would have been viable for the base configuration, but 6MB (4 chip, 2 fast) could have been viable. The chipset could have been updated for this revision, to include a 256 colour native chunky mode, and a full 32-bit blitter. And maybe 16-bit audio. And a VGA connector as the chipset could support higher resolutions. As a simple machine, the motherboard would have been reduced in size despite the updates, which would have reduced prices. Use of a SIMM slot for the fast RAM would have allowed an 8MB shipping product at a higher price.

[Hattig]

People seem to be forgetting the price of RAM and computers back in 1996!

8MB of RAM wasn't cheap, it would not have been an option for a consumer system trying to hit £299. Maybe for a higher-spec variant at £499 however...

The same goes for the 68060 versus the 68030. I think a 40MHz 68030 would have been the upper end of what a £299 computer could have borne, price-wise. I don't even know if a hard drive could have been included at that price either. Again, a higher-spec variant could have included it (leading to the concept that the low end system's CPU would have been on a removable card from the beginning).

A1600 @ £299: 40MHz 68030, 4MB (2 + 2)
A1600 @ £499: 40MHz 68030, 8MB, 120MB (I forget the prices of 2.5" hard drives in 1996!)
A1600 @ £699: 50MHz 68060, 8MB, 250MB

The 68040 would have been too hot for the form factor to be cooled quietly. However maybe a 25MHz variant could have been used.

I believe that Commodore missed an opportunity with not releasing "higher spec" consumer models - something for users to aspire to. Why couldn't the A500 also have a better configuration (£100 more) with a 14MHz 68000 and 1MB at the time it came with 512KB?

However you have to consider that this would have been the last hurrah for the 68k line of Amigas, Motorola weren't in the mood for improving the 68060, nor price reducing it. Commodore would have had to be in the process of transitioning to a new architecture by 1996, knowing these machines would be a final 68k release. PA-RISC might have fallen by the wayside. PowerPC would have been a serious consideration. Most likely the C= management would have thought "let's wait for Itanium", and eventually died from the delays and sub-par performance.

[Hattig]

Back in 1995/1996 Commodore should have for their low end machines used 3.5" IDE hard drives rather than 2.5". Bigger, Hotter? Yes. But much cheaper. Around that time a 3.5" 1.0GB hard drive was very affordable.
All Amiga's should have had a Buffered IDE as standard.

I think that going for a low-end desktop model with separate keyboard would have been a good idea as well - like the never-released Falcon040 computer from Atari (or an updated A1000, or a slimline case like a PS2). This would have had space for the cheaper 3.5" hard drive (although you could fit certain slimmer models inside the A1200 at a push, I certainly did!) and an internal power supply, but otherwise the innards would be a $600 A1200 rather than a $3700 A4000. It could have sold for $999, and maybe the budget would have squeezed to 4MB RAM and a 28MHz 68030.

[Hattig]

My second favourite Amiga product we manufactured, Siamese was my proudest though.

Steve (Ex Director of Checkmate Digital)

It looks like a nice kit, I guess Commodore's actions put you off doing the same for the A1200 - it would have been a far nicer solution than the PowerTower kits that were over the top and too bulky in my opinion.