"I had an unfortunate bump with another car and it kinda seems like that ugly plate might have dealt with it" ...I agree and think that center "brick" is meant as a buffer for low-speed on center bumper impacts. Without it if someone "tapped" your front end the nice horizontal ribs would be crushed and expensive to repair. Our big-mouth grille is a result of pedestrian impact safety standards which require a hood crush clearance over the engine. Higher hoods mean taller front ends. This requirement has given designers of all passenger vehicles conniptions because the requirement changes not only the front end but the entire design of the car. That's why we see deeper "grills", swept side sculpt lines, rising beltlines and taller rear ends. It gave Chrysler a free-pass to bring back the 1950's look of the 300. The transition from the Chrysler Concorde front end to the 300 was dramatic and not just for reasons of "style". Now if we can just stop hitting pedestrians in crosswalks we can go back to low, sleek front ends!
