Life with Cars.(Automobile advertising)(Brief Article)

Back. Back! O glorious day! Has it been only six years since I put automotive journalism in the rearview mirror and sailed down the off-ramp marked ``marketing-and-public relations''? It seems an eternity. But now I'm back, feeling like a man reborn. Fresh. New.

I wouldn't trade the six years I spent prowling the dark side of the automotive business for anything. I pulled open the big corporate door and watched CEOs attempting to zigzag their lumbering corporations as if they were piloting speedboats. I saw strategies fumbled and leaders humbled. I witnessed fiefdoms and silos and chimneys created and demolished. I met people who understood brand (It's The Product, Stupid) and far too many who didn't. Some days I thought you'd have better luck dealing with the government.

And yet, despite the bureaucratic goo, a heartening array of great products did emerge. Focuses, 3 Series, MDXs and Z06s. Highlanders, WRXs, Boxsters and IS 300s. PTs, TTs and AMG-everythings. These winners are nothing less than a tribute to the human spirit-that remarkable ability to ignore what can't possibly be done.

So what's changed since I last aimed my editorial searchlight into the void? Well, just about everything.

Product-wise, the continuous technical evolution borders on revolution. Yesterday's performance benchmark is today's mainstream transportation. Example? The '95 BMW M3. Its mighty 240 hp is matched by ...