Detroit Free Press Tom Walsh column: Break with Chrysler's past is just the start.(Column)

Byline: Tom Walsh

Aug. 6--Holy Batmobile, Robin!

This Cerberus-Chrysler deal is shaping up as a wild ride for the ages.

With the ink barely dry on Friday's closing papers that transferred 80.1% of Chrysler Group ownership from Germany's DaimlerChrysler to Gotham City's Cerberus Capital Management, the new Cerberus owners have demoted the Chrysler CEO, broomed his No. 2 guy and installed Robert Nardelli to run the joint.

"This blows me away," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, when I told him the news Sunday night.

What this shake-up confirms is that despite all the talk from Cerberus …