I had have a 96 GS mkI, it is a wonderful car in terms of handling, reliability, craftmanship. It has a very very smooth A/T even better than MKII. The rattle noise is lesser than MKII as well, becase i am having a MKII now. If you can find a good MKI, it will be a good choice.
Personally, i like MKI more than MKII, the MKI's materials is much better than MKII. e.g. sunroof is make of laminated glass but just tampered glass in MKII. rear ventilated disc in MKI but just solid disc in MKII.....