I'll second Col. Cooper's nomination of the CZ-75 as the world's best
crunchenticker.
What other pistol on the list has both seen the stratospheric pricing of the next to unobtainable HK P7M8, when the Czech wondernine was locked behind the Iron Curtain, and been priced alongside a common Ruger in the free market, and still all the while have been the same great fighting pistol made entirely from metal with few, if any, serious manufacturing shortcuts?
Stronger than a SIG or Beretta. As wieldy and more versatile than a BHP. Capable of being a serious competition platform and a military sidearm without extensive modifications. Capable of a higher level of classiness than any combat tupperware. It completely outclasses many pistols costing upwards of three hundred dollars more. Except for the price and the JMB connection to the BHP, the CZ line IMO, most captures in the 9mm platform the greatest aspects of the 1911 in the .45 realm. Toughness, customizeability, C&L carry, and fits more hands than the BHP does.
The CZ is the only semi-auto I have ever shot that was a "revelation." It is the only one which ever made me rethink my stance on DA/SA triggers and say to myself, "Why haven't I had one of these for the past fifteen years?" Their relative scarcity keeps them the worst kept secret in handgunning because if more people had the opportunity to try one, the price would escalate accordingly. The only big cheap out on the average pistol are its substandard sights, but the aftermarket cares more and more about this pistol. Its legend has been growing ever since it achieved cult status on The Firing Line a scant three to four years ago.
Oddly for a pistol design from the 70s that has inspired an entire line for CZ and products from at least four clone makers I can think of, the best days of the design are still ahead of it. The internet is going to be the best thing that ever happened to CZ as a firearms company and the worst thing for its heretofore low end pricing.