Exactly. The idea for stamping louvers in cars came from airplanes, and took off in the hot rod world after WWII when all the returning pilots started customizing their cars for the salt flats, dry lake beds and the drag strips.
And by the way, they aren't non-functional. The allow hot air to escape from the engine compartment. Which is probably more than the "functional" twin scoops do on the earlier A bodies, since they aren't tall enough to get out of the boundary layer of air flowing over the hood. Which they would need to do if they were going to be useful for anything other than letting hot air out.
I don't see what the big issue is with the car. It's not stock, so what? Not a huge fan of the color or recessed tail lights, but I think the louvers actually look good, same with the black out treatment on the hood. I've seen far more hacked up race cars on this very site...