I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned it, but after a few un-memorable 110 cameras I got a Pentax ME Super 35mm camera for my 21st birthday which I still have but never use.
My first slr was a Yashica-TL Electro. I bought it after borrowing
an slr from a friend to photograph some flooding conditions at home.
I discovered that the slr was the type of camera I wanted. Just didn't
have many $ to spend in those days. Then came an Olympus OM 10 then
an Olympus OM 1n then the Nikon F2. Now its the D600.