1991 Rover mini checkmate, Cooper Cylinder Head, RC40, Forged Rockers and a 28/36 Weber
Drives like an actual Go-Kart
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/preston00/P2021242F.png
Olympus E-520
You will find very little difference between picture quality amongst most DSLR's and there are very few "bad" DSLR's. You have to go to pixel level to see the difference more often than not.
What ever you do make sure you research all the different cameras within your budget and go try them out before you buy, don't go on just the word of others because all you will be told is Canon and Nikon are the best. This is neither useful or necessarily true.
Personally I use my E-520 with Original OM Lenses. Using OM Lenses means manual focus and aperture control but that is half the fun