Radar Detector Giant Mike Valentine Has Passed Away
If you’ve ever shopped for a radar detector, you’ve probably heard the name Valentine. One of the most well-known brands in the industry just lost its founder and namesake leader. Mike D. Valentine passed away at the age of 74 at his home.
Valentine’s legacy can’t be overstated. He founded the company that eventually developed the first Escort radar detectors before starting his company, and their first product, the Valentine V1, took the technology to a new level. That first radar detector stayed on sale for almost 30 years before the company developed the V1 Gen2, which promised military-grade technology and a sleeker design.
The original V1 broke new ground with a system that allowed drivers to see which direction the radar was coming from with arrows on the display. It also had an oscillating sweep feature that could pick up momentary radar blips across different frequencies.
Today, apps like Waze have made radar detectors seem obsolete, but they still have a place where they’re legal, at least. The apps rely on user input to map police speed checkpoints and other road hazards, and the data is only as good as the people entering it. They also do not offer real-time detection, so you could run afoul of an officer if they parked after the last app user passed by. Valentine’s Gen2 detector builds on that with longer-range detection and other advanced features.
[Images: Potashev Aleksandr via Shutterstock.com, sirtravelalot via Shutterstock.com, Sanchai Khudpin via Shutterstock.com]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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