Though the body is weathered, this Sandpiper is said to be in mechanically good shape. Oleksandr and his father rescued this one and got it running. Last known to be up for sale. Located in the Minneapolis MN area.

Calling this Sandpiper a Zombie is the most apt description I could come up with for this one that was dug out from it’s grave. Anthony and his Dad bought this Sandpiper at an auction. It was half buried and they had to dig it out to get it home. Floors are rusted out and you can see the amount of dirt inside. They say the engine is not locked up so who knows, this could be a runner!  Odometer shows 13,244 but I’d bet that has rolled over at least once.

So can a Sandpiper in this condition be brought back from the dead? I say YES! Plastic interior parts are unobtainium, but the body and mechanicals can be fixed up and I still think the fabric is available for the interior.  Anthony says his Dad has about 17 Chevettes so finding parts for this should be easy as a walk in the yard.

Without a doubt this is the finest Sandpiper in existence.  Interior is in near perfect shape, the paint and body are super clean.  I’ve seen this Sandpiper change hands a few times. One of my goals is to keep track of each one.  Thanks to Jeff, Ed, and now Rob for keeping this around.

Sandpiper sometimes like to migrate north into Canada.  Marilyn sent me these pictures of the one she owned as her first car. “…my father helped me purchase for my 1^st year of college in 1978.  The car was used when I bought it in 1978.  It was stick shift & it was my first time driving stick shift & I got the car the week before college & I was a little clumsy for the first few weeks.”

She had it until 1981 when it was traded in. Last known location was in Hamilton, Ontario.

I’m not only a fan of the Sandpiper, I’m also an owner!  My wife had one in high school (See Demolition Sandpiper) and me being a bit of a car nut (mainly El Caminos) I thought it would be nice to find another one since her sister had wrecked hers.

I kept an eye out and one day in 2003 this one popped up on Ebay Motors not super far away.  I came away with the winning bid (competing against Fast Eddie as I would find out later). I met up with the seller at a halfway point and drove it home to where it resides now.

It needs some work yet, but for the most part it is in good enough shape to be left alone as a survivor car.  I have the material to the do the seats someday.

This Sandpiper was bought new in Colorado Springs. It was a family car and when the couple’s two daughters were old enough, they learned to drive it. In the early 1990’s the youngest daughter gave it a nose job into a truck. It was sold off to someone who was going to make a demo derby car out of it. R.I.P.

Sandy has gone through a few hands in the time that I’ve known about this Sandpiper. It’s even been owned by Ed for a short time.  I’m not really sure where Sandy is right now. I’ll update that when I can.

That’s right, the ultra rare V8 option… that never was an option.  But talk about CLEAN! Ed still owns this sleeper of a Sandpiper that was stuffed full of V8 magic.

Check out this video from 1999.

At one time Ed owned 3 Sandpipers. Puff is pictured here with Ed’s V8 Sandpiper.

Doodle popped up in the South Carolina region and was owned by a delightful lady. Doodle fell into some neglect and was in the care of a mechanic that ultimately had to help sell Doodle.  As you can see some work was done, the engine was pulled and had new seals. I was told the rust on the fender was addressed. Unfortunately the engine bay got sprayed all black. Chevette engine bays are always the color of the car until it gets up to the firewall.

Last known location: South Carolina

From the former owner…

Our family had a new Sandpiper in Algonac, Mi. My mother owned it from 1977 to 1981. I had from 1981 to 1983 or so….   as I was just finishing high school in my previous car was a 1971 Ford torino, I didn’t take well to the cream colored car or interior. I promptly got a new brown interior out of an almost new 80 and had it painted this GM brown with gold metallic and no evidence it was ever cream colored.  I liked the 78 grill better. I got some shortened springs, had rear sway bar fabricated, added 2” exhaust, replaced the 1 bbl with a holly 2 bbl a friends dad got me new from holly. It was a bit rough but ran like a Go cart and handled well.  Eventually I took 4 lug 13” cragars and had 14” installed for SCCA solo II autocross C street prepared.  It was run for a year and decided a Civic was a better car for college (and even autocross).   GM did build some v6 prototype Chevettes in the mid 1980s.  The Michigan winters were not kind and when it started showing its age, a Honda Civic was better suited to get me through college.  I’m sure I have some other photos around. I don’t think I’ve ever survive the rest of the 80s.

Current Location: Unknown