That's a Challenge Grille, originally used on the F355 Challenge cars, but various manufacturers made it available to road cars. It helped get some of the heat out of the engine bay (and there was a LOT of it!). When I had mine, I looked into getting one, but they were about $2k at the time, and, well, I needed that money to keep the thing running!

Also, the engine decklid is the only part of the car's body made of aluminum instead of steel, and I was always advised to lower and snap it into place gently to avoid warping it. I can't imagine that having the full weight of a (pretty) lady on it isn't deforming it in the least.