Yes, the story of the Pontiac Banshee, which happened 49 years ago, is pretty well documented. Of course, some things have changed since then. What hasn't changed is the oversimplifying-to-the-point-of-mischaracterization nature of the original comment:
I suspect Chevy has a lock on that motor I don't think they're letting cadillac have the fun they want, I don't see another logical reason cadillac would want the camaro to have 580hp and the corvette 638hp to Cadillacs 556hp with the same motor.
LS9 was a hand-built exotic-internals engine. CTS-V blew everyone away and grabbed the fastest production sedan lap time at Nurburgring without being a tiny-volume too-expensive-for-a-Cadillac stunt.
The Camaro ZL1 was a critically-necessary response to the Mustang GT500. While I'm sure we'd all be over the moon had that updated engine been backported to the CTS-V, maybe reclaim the edge over the new M5, is "Chevy won't let Cadillac have it" the only possible reason? How about the cost of recertifying in the fourth year versus the sales benefit. Or all the other critical projects keeping GM and Cadillac busy.
But let's not forget that the context of this quote is the ATS-V's engine choice, and the "that motor" we're talking about is the LT1. Is it reasonable to think GM wouldn't let Cadillac have the LT1 for a MY2015 BMW M3 fighter because of Chevy protectionism? Quite simply no. The first CTS-V got the tip-of-the-sword LS6; the GTO got the LS1 and got the LS2 a year later -- in C6's debut year no less. And the ATS-V is too important to Cadillac to hold anything back for Chevy pride. If the brain trust deems the LT1 necessary for ATS-V's success, it'll have it.
Not to say that there's no lingering sentiment of protectionism, but it's naive to think it's the driving force in GM product planning today. It's less unlikely that Cadillac's own sense of pride tilts it toward using a motor it can call its own, but we should hope they've learned from past attempts that it's more important to build a winning car.
Picking a TTV6 over the LT1 is a risky move, and if they go that way, I really hope they build a winner, and I'm worried the LF3 as we've seen it so far may not be enough. Few competitors are as daunting as the M3, and market biases being what they are, Cadillac cannot afford to show up with fewer ponies. Then again, maybe with the V6 they say "damn the gaskets, full boost ahead!"
BTW, anyone interested in GM politics should read
Car Guys vs Bean Counters by Bob Lutz. And the dated but still illuminating
All Corvettes Are Red by James Schefter. There are other good books, but these are fascinating reads.
.Jinx