Partridge Green Motorsport

Wednesday, Sep 16, 2026 · 1244 words · approx 4 mins to read

Partridge Green Motorsport, or PGM as you’ll often see them referred to as, are a company not too far away from me in Sussex that specialise in Caterhams. They do pretty much everything you can think of when it comes to Caterhams, from routine servicing and maintenance all the way through serious mechanical upgrades and tuning, including motorsport preparation and race team support.

Being local to me and experts in the marque, and because part of the history of my car is a little fuzzy, I took my car to PGM not long after getting it in order for them to give it the once over and tell me what I was really dealing with.

While PT Sportscars, the company that sold my Seven to me, said they thoroughly check all of their cars over and remediate any issues to prepare them for sale, they didn’t really do that to my satisfaction, so having PGM look it shortly after collecting it was very valuable.

It also gave me the chance to suss them out and see how I felt about the work they do and the advice they were prepared to give me for the direction I might want to take the car. As I’ve made my enquiries with several companies around upgrades and changes to the car that I think I want to do over time, the trend is to mix the (often great) advice in with a push towards something that doesn’t quite meet my original requirements, and often costs a bit more money.

Thankfully I don’t get that sense from PGM. They don’t seem interested in me as just another customer that brings in money, but instead come across as very interested in the current state of the car and interested in genuinely helping me get what I want out of it, especially given I’m coming at Sevens for the first time.

In talking to Andy and Graham there as I’ve popped in a few times to chat about my car, and to bring it in for its initial service with them, I get the sense that they just really love Caterhams as cars, and love working on them as a result. When I dropped my car off for that service they had a Caterham 21 in which they’ve worked on over the years.

Without me even asking to see it, Andy was very happy to show me round it, get the front clamshell up to show me what’s underneath, point out the similarities and differences to a Seven, and generally just geek out about on that particular 21 and how it’s changed over the years. PGM have lovingly restored it for its owner after an accident, something that hasn’t been easy given how few were made which has resulted in a distinct lack of spares and options for fixing the bodywork in particular.

I had PGM give the car a standard service—the usual happens there: new engine oil, oil filter, spark plugs, fluids check and replacment if needed, brake safety check, and spanner check all major steering and suspension parts—plus a gearbox oil replacement and a suspension setup.

The latter takes place using their corner weight scales which they use to accurately set the car up for optimal weight distribution, all while taking my current weight into account and the type of driving I tend to do. While it’s something that will need doing again soon enough because I’m replacing the suspension on the car, it gave PGM the opportunity to make sure that side of the car was in good shape after the service.

The servicing and look at the gearbox and suspension geometry setup gives me, through PGM’s findings, notes and future advice, a baseline from which to work from and PGM’s nod that everything is in good shape. That gives me the confidence now to lean on it a bit and start to learn it properly. It’s my first ever RWD car with no driver aids, so their confidence in the mechanical performance and the suspension setup gives me a lot of confidence in turn.

Plus, as and when I take the car back to PGM for future work, they now know the car and its starting point so we all have a common base to work from. I plan to do as much on the car as I can myself, but there are certain jobs I don’t have the space, tools and expertise to perform, which is what I wanted a local specialist like them to be available for when I need them.

They’re experienced not just in the mechanical side of Sevens either, handling bodywork aspects including fitting aftermarket panels and accessories, and paint. They work with a local specialist nearby in Horsham on the paint side of the bodywork on a Seven, rather than paint themselves, and Andy was happy to explain who the company was and why he trusts them for paint on customer cars.

Lastly, it’s worth pointing out that Andy has also given me terrific advice on what it’s like to learn how to drive Sevens well. He has a modified 620R of his own with a lot of extra performance, and has given me many wonderful tips about coming to a car like the Seven for the first time as I am. They don’t handle like many other cars, especially those that I’ve driven in my time behind the wheel, and the light weight and lack of computer and servo assistance when driving means that my approach to learning how it all works and responds has to be different to a car where a bunch of computers have my back if I make a mistake.

Andy asked me about my car history before the Seven, listened to what I’ve spent time in before, and tailored his advice to suit, which I found very valuable. Like Simon Hoade, he has encouraged me to get some driver training in a Seven and have an expert give me a solid foundation and understanding of what it’s like to drive them on the limit. That will let me know how the car will respond to the road and my inputs, and give me the instinct and knowledge about how to drive with the car as it reacts and moves over the road or track, rather than drive against it.

There are other Caterham specialists dotted around the country so it’s very fortunate I live so close to PGM. Their real expertise lies in tuning and setup of 620Rs for serious track work, but they’re more than happy to look at any Seven configuration and I’m very happy I have them on my doorstep to help me get what I want out of the car and realise my vision for it over the coming years.