Really? Maybe there is no federally mandated requirement for such or standard test with the number/star put out by NHTSA or IIHS. I'm not sure on this either way, that's why I say maybe. That doesn't mean they don't take pedestrian crashes into account when designing the cars. Especially considering that most cars most makers make are sold in many places across the world, where other countries do already have requirements on vehicles for pedestrian crashes (I'm pretty sure Europe does).
EDIT: Oh, you were talking specifically about GTR's. I get what you were saying now. I read that as a general statement.
http://www.hondanews.com/categories/733/releases/5193
Pedestrian safety systems in cars are a great idea, some idiot might hit you or someone you love while you are walking one day and you'll be thankful that front of the car was designed with you in mind.
I think Draco-Rex has the right idea, I bet those 'rams' pop up when a frontal impact like a pedestrian is detected and they act as shock absorbers if someone where to hit the hood, greatly slowing the deceleration of the object (body, head, etc) hitting the hood.
That guy very probably got taken to the cleaners, or his insurance did. There are also mitigating factors in that price we don't know about. How much labor was involved with repairing those systems? Lots of times the ECU's for air bag systems (similar to this) are rated to be used once, or a set number of times due to the electrical stress on the 'firing' system. After that they will no longer operate, even if you replace the air bags (or in the case the 'rams'). In case anyone was wondering why the ECU needed replaced. We've all ran into cases where the manufacturer paid no attention to what it would cost or how much time it might take to service a system.