I think You are right on the money itix, and this is what I was referring to.
If You have a sport that in the outset has the potential to be extremely boring (cars driving around in circles), and You make that extremely appealing, then there is something to be learned.
I completely agree with You in that I also think (know), that much of the problem lays with how rally is broadcast. What stories are told. What stories are left untold. And how they are told.
When it comes to NASCAR they are extremely good at this, and the fan involvement is second to no sport in the whole world. They even have fans calling to the show, and put them over so they can talk with their star drivers while they are racing (when there is a caution flag), and they even promote the drivers to tweet during the race (in the caution). So they are extremely good at getting the word across - and the WRC should learn a lot of NASCAR.
The space frame thing, is really not so important for me. I just know that it could cut the cost by a huge margin, and open up for the possibility of putting the driver in the centre of the car, and the codriver behind him (I think driver safety is VERY important). And it was used in rallying during rallyings most epic years (group B with Peugeot 205, Lancia S4, Lancia 037 etc), and I dont hear anyone complain about them cars not being road car derived.
The latest "Group B" car was the Pikes Peak Peugeot, which also was a space frame, and I think that car looks a lot cooler than todays WRC cars. Space frame opens up for changing the body, without developing a whole new car, wich would cut the development cost by a significant amount.
But as I say - the WRC has a lot to learn from NASCAR in a lot of ways

But minimum height is 1270mm, which is around the height of Porsche Cayman and a bit less than 992. Abarth 124 is 3-4 cm lower and Alpine is around 2 cm lower. Both BMW M2 and M4 are aroud 12cm...
WRC mainclass from 2027