Some cars leave a paper trail; the GM 4T40 transmission left a name, a year — 1995 — and a place in GM (General Motors)'s list. What follows is what can be said with a source behind it.
The story
The 4T40-E and 4T45-E are a series of automatic transaxles from General Motors. Designed for transverse engine configurations, the series includes 4 forward gears. The 4Txx family replaced the Turbo-Hydramatic 125 transverse three speed automatic introduced in 1980.
The "-E" series is electronically controlled and features an automatic overdrive transaxle with an electronically controlled torque converter clutch. Since non-electronic versions of these transmissions do not exist, it is conventional to refer to these models as simply 4T40 and 4T45, leaving out the "-E". The 4T40 and 4T45 were assembled at Windsor Transmission in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Its place in the line
In the GM (General Motors) line-up the GM 4T40 transmission has a clear place: it replaced the Turbo-Hydramatic 125; it handed the line to the GM 6T40 transmission. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Toyota Tacoma, the Honda CR-V, the BMW Z3. Nearby in the GM (General Motors) catalogue sit the 1955 Chevrolet and the 1957 Chevrolet.