I am wondering abotu the black strip on the front end of some of the 3rd G pro's I've seen. This is in place of the normal chrome strip above the mazda logo on the grill I know that this was mentioned before and that it was supposed to be on the older 3rdG's. However, All the ones that I have seen have the large mazda symbol on the grill and two of them have the new protege logo on the back (2 were also black mica and one was silver) Just wondering if this is a aftermarket mod or option from the factory.

 

On the first series of 3rd Gens, all trim levels had the chrome grill accent. When the second series of 3rd Gens came out, only the DX and LX models have the chrome grill accent. The ES, MP3, and Pro5 have the blacked out strip. If you will also notice, the DX and LX have fully chromed front lights, where the ES is "blacked" out.

Cool, this is my 100th post!

-Jerry