These sort of flaps are quite common on rally cars in Africa, as many of the laterite soil (murram in East Africa) roads are comprised on a mixture of graded earth and sand with, an often generous, mixture of small stones. Radiators are normally protected with an additional mesh, but headlights and especially windscreens are especially vulnerable, especially when two cars pass.
If not regularly graded the roads develop a washboard surface, but that is another story.
Time to head off for a sundowner now... 
