It is clear that by the time the Road Runner name was applied to the Volare, the game was over. The entire principle of "Road Runner" was a stripped down mid size car with a potent mid sized big block V8.
I never warmed up to the 71-74 B body cars. The 1975 Road Runner looked like a Chevy Monte Carlo to me. The Volare Road Runner could have been a decent car if it would have had an E58 360 4 barrel and dual exhaust.
Add 3.55 gears and a Sure Grip diff and it would have been serious competition for the Trans Ams and Camaro Z28s of the day.