Well..... I have a number of older Canon SLR film cameras. My prize is the original F1.
My digital Canon lineage is: G1, D60, 1DM2, 5D, 7D and a lot of Canon glass.
My impression is that post processing has improved along with the camera tech. Past processing is orders of magnitude better than in 2000.
The bottom line has always been that great photos are the products of great photographers. Gear is secondary at best.