C'mon, now, Old Fuff ... you know the answer to your question. The folks who own and shoot the older commercial Colt's and GI 1911s are mostly the folks who grew up with and cut their teeth on 1911s -- hence, they're the more experienced 1911 folks -- who as a rule, understand the peculiarities and maintenance issues attendent to the platform.
As a relatively new concept, the shorty-45s appealed to a lot of newer shooters, newer gun-buyers or folks not generally part of the 1911 cult (as most of the 1911 aficianados out there were, and remain, totally content with full size and Commander-length models).
If one knows the 1911, one is generally more apt to work out one's own pistol's particular problems, understanding that the platform works best for those who understand the pistol's operating system, possible ills and likely cures. One who purchases the gun-de-jour on a whim, because it's small and concealable, "cute" or has write-ups in this month's gun rags, is more likely to shoot it right out of the box and then complain vociferiously is it doesn't function perfectly, even if 90% of the malfunctions are due to the shooter's poor technique, cheap magazines, crappy reloads or other easily achieved fixes such a bit of extractor re-tensioning or smoothing out a slightly out of spec slide stop ...