Never said there was a full auto 45 by Colt. The M1911 is a autoloading pistol, it is not a automatic pistol. An automatic pistol would allow you to pull the trigger and it would fire until it was out of ammo or until you released the trigger.
More recent than I would have thought. Guns and Ammo changed their style guide to use semi-auto exclusively, and to drop the term automatic for pistols unless they were full auto, in 1994.
Hate to tell you but in the old days the term Automatic meant it auto lodes and cocks the weapon. If they were talking about full auto it was deemed a machine pistol.
Then why is the cartridge that was designed for it called .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol)?
I'll tell you why. Because Melas posts were correct. Self loading shotguns and pistols were known as automatics.