"Gravel guard" - option in Canada?

Hey all -

I took the Redpra in for a respray last week....went in to check on it today - it looks great so far. I have a question, though - the painter told me that he had found that the car originally came with "gravel guard" - rough "texture" below the rubber door and quarter-panel mouldings which supposedly helps protect against chips from gravel thrown up from the road (though I'm not sure how well this would work!). There was a crappy-looking after-market decal below the mouldings when I bought the car. The painter told me that he believes the car came with this "gravel guard" from the factory because he found it under the original mouldings. The car is from British Columbia...was this ever offered up there as an option?? He took the liberty of replacing it...looks fine, but I've never seen it on any other Supra down here. Anyone else seen this before?

Just curious....Bob