i used to think the 1911 platform was a bit dated, and why not? i grew up in the Glock era of handguns. i don't really remember when the NYPD carried revolvers, or anything but Glocks. my dad had an old GI issue 1911 hidden in the closet, and was an old, beat-up looking thing. so, looking at that, and Glocks, it's easy to see why i thought the 1911 was relic of the firearms world.
years later, when i decided to carry a gun, i wanted something affordable, compact, easy to use, and ready to go out of the box. i bought a popular Tupperware 9mm, and carried it for years. but something kept drawing me to the 1911 section of the display case whenever i went to go buy more ammo. i would stand there looking, and wondering what they'd be like to carry. my dad had since bought a Colt Officer's Model to carry, and i got a chance to shoot it. i liked it, but i also liked carrying 16+1 of 9mm rather than just 7+1 of .45ACP.
still, i stared at them, whenever i got the chance. it was like owning and loving a German Sheperd, but going to the zoo, and being stared down, and entranced, by a wolf.
not too long ago, i broke down, and bought my first 1911. it was an old, Commander sized Llama. it was beat up, it wasn't real accurate, and it needed a lot of work to get it to work, but i was done in. i was bitten. i decided right then and there that my next handgun would be another 1911, albeit a quality one.
i think much of the mystique around the 1911, and the .45ACP, is that they're a real slice of Americana, in the same way that Harley Davidson motorcycles, '55 Buicks, Clint Eastwood, and the blues are. they are few weapons that are readily identified as being truly American; the few others that come to mind are the AR15 platform, the Winchester lever action rifles, and Native American war clubs. many countries and cultures have their own signature weapon: the Japanese have their katanas, the Zulus have the Iklwa spear, and so on. the 1911 is the American weapon.