I put in my €0,02.

The best camera is the one you take with you
With that out of the way. The best camera I've ever used, period, is the Minolta Dynax 9 (a.k.a. Maxxum 9) - it is very intuitive and fast. It is better then the Minolta Dynax 7 or the Canon EOS 1v (did I hear somebody say blasphemy?).
I do like my Minolta XD-5 and XD-11, but I don't expect them to be really better then good offerings by other manufacturers of the same era (late '70's, early 80's) - but never tried those, so I can nominate them for best manual focus camera

But seeing you already own Canon, I would go Canon. The EOS 1v, EOS 1n and EOS 3 are great cameras, however, their user-interface is something you've gotta learn (unlike the Dynax 9) and they're big and heavy (just like the Dynax 9). I don't like the Canon EOS 30/33 (Elan 7), on paper it seems to be the best choice, but I seem to prefer the EOS 50E (Elan II) - the handling is much nicer and it feels much more sturdy. It has a cross AF sensor, I find that important. The only downside imho is that it lacks a dedicated stop-down button!

Of the (even) more consumer oriented cameras, the EOS 3000v (Rebel K2) seems a nice buy, I can't find many differences between it and the more expensive EOS 300v (Rebel Ti). Stay clear of the EOS 3000n (Rebel XS N) as it is a heap of plastic junk. Consider the Canon EOS 300 (Rebel 2000), as it is a good camera. Stay clear of the 28-80/3.5-5.6 II lens, as it is the worst thing ever put on a camera - get a 50/1.8 or, even better, the new 40/2.8 to go with that film camera!

Of course this is all too late, but hey, I thought I give you my opinion