In November of 1949, W. A. Darter retired from the business and turned over all its operations to his son-in-law, and Darter & Looney became Looney & Company. As a means of spurring his new venture, Looney held a grand opening on Thursday, February 16, 1950 at the new “Base of Operations” where he and the broader IH company hosted in excess of 3,000 visitors with “unexcelled hospitality” which included speeches, refreshments, product demonstrations, and door prizes, all culminating in a dance in the service bay, accompanied by the music of a Mexican mariachi band, as well as Ray Baca’s orchestra. Mr. Looney continued selling and servicing IH products and Pontiac automobiles until April of 1951, when he turned over the businesses to Harry Vogt who owned Vogt & Company, a former livery and stable business started by his father, Frederick “Fritz” Vogt. Vogt leased the premises from Looney until 1953. In January of 1953, the sales and service business was sold to Lester and Mary Alice von Rosenberg and his sister and brother-in-law, Berger Eugene (B.E.) and Lois (von Rosenberg) Todd. Looney had transferred the land underlying the businesses to the von Rosenberg and Todd couples via a sale on July 8, 1952 just the year before. The new business was called Rosenberg-Todd, Incorporated, and just like Darter & Looney and Vogt & Company before them, they too sold and serviced IH and Pontiac products. Rosenberg-Todd continued to serve the La Grange, Schulenburg and Giddings markets for IH and Pontiac products through the remainder of the 1950s, and in 1962, it added Oldsmobile automobiles to its line-up, debuting the 1962 Oldsmobile 98 Holiday Coupe and Sedan.
