Now and then: Meet the man who built Ireland’s first Toyota
By Mary Dennehy
Did you know that the first Toyota car ever built in Ireland was assembled by a Tallaght resident in a factory in Clondalkin?
In 1972, Ireland’s first and only Toyota factory opened on Killeen Road in Clondalkin, with Tallaght resident Bill Milner employed as the body shop foreman.
Bill working on a Toyota Corolla in 1976 in the factory in Clondalkin
Originally from Sandymount, Bill lived in New Bawn in Tallaght while employed at the factory, later moving to Blessington with his wife Betty.
Bill came onto The Echo’s radar after Tallaght garage Tadg Riordan posted a picture of the father-of-five building a four-door Corolla back in 1976 alongside a picture of him 42 years later buying a new 181 Toyota Yaris for his wife Betty.
“I started at the factory in 1972 and was employed as the body shop foreman,” Bill told The Echo.
“This was before Japanese cars were even heard of in Ireland and we started production in late 1973.
“It was the first and only Toyota factory in Ireland and I was involved in building the very first car.”
All of the cars made at the Clondalkin factory were for the home market, with five cars being manufactured in the early days – a number which increased to 20 cars per day.
“A lot of the work was done manually, not like today where it’s all automatic – it’s done by robots,” Bill said.
Bill pictured buying a new Toyota Yaris for his wife Betty at Tadg Riordan recently
“The old picture of me was taken around 1975 or 1976 and I was building a KE20, which is a four-door Corolla.
“Sadly, the factory closed around 1982, it only last ten years.”
He added: “I am a bit of a petrol head and when ever I’m watching car programmes, Ireland never gets a mention as a place for making cars despite loads of cars being made here.”
Bill was snapped recently in Tadg Riordan buying a new Yaris for his wife Betty.
