it looks like the spirit R plastic color (http://turborx7.com/images/efini/interior_typea1.jpg), but i dont know why ray would have any parts from that, and as far as i know the spirit Rs were all RHD, interesting part!

 

^ That's exactly what I was going to say... weird.

 

lol, beat you to the punch!

 

That looks like a 1994 piece. I've bought a couple of 94 finish pieces and they look gray instead of black because of the texture. I think it's a very fine layer that has faded. They get darker and more shiny as the textured finish wears, or if you use plastic/vinyl cleaner to wipe them down.

Another option is to paint the plastic section. I would not want to do that if I paid what you did for a brand new part, but it's possible that all new plastic parts from Mazda will look like this.

David