That explains a lot. So it was more a personal reminder to him of the Group A days. I can understand that. Even nicer, when the car has now turned into cult status.
And to all who said "it's just an appliance". First you're wrong. Why? AE86 was one of the last small affordable RWD cars that were designed with spirited driving in mind. The fact that it was a Toyota made it cheap and reliable. In theory, it's no different than E30 318iS, but I'd guess it was quite a lot cheaper to buy and run than the Bavarian car. That's one of the reasons why Miata/MX5 is so popular. It's cheap to buy and run, reliable, lightweight and RWD, just like the AE86. Yes, it's a roadster, but many enthusiasts would've bought it as a coupe of hatchback as well. But there might be not so much used examples running around if it werent' a soft top, enthusiasts weren't usually the first owners for Miatas... Now to my point: after the AE86, there were not many cars like it. Miatas, old BMWs and maybe S13/S14 Nissans if you had a bit larger budget.
Many of us love cheap, light RWD cars that are built as driver's cars. There were plenty of them in the 70s, some in 80s but after AE86 they became rare species and for a long time there was only MX5. Luckily the future seems better. Genesis Coupe is a breath of fresh air but maybe not excatly what I mean, but luckily Toyota seems to know what it does with the FT86.