The man responsible for ensuring many drivers fly under the radar and don’t get speeding tickets has died.
An obituary for Mike (Michael) D. Valentine posted to Cincinnati.com confirmed the radar detector legend died at the age of 74 on September, 16, 2024. Valentine died at home unexpectedly, according to the obituary.
Founder, president, and CEO of Valentine Research, Valentine was a pioneer in the radar detection industry. His company developed the V1, also known as the Valentine One, that changed the radar detection industry and game.
Valentine previously co-founded Cincinnati Microwave in 1976, which led to the development of the first Escort-branded radar detectors. In 2020 Valentine told Road & Track he left the company after taking a buyout in the 1980s.
Valentine One Gen2
Once Valentine’s non-compete expired in the early 1990s he promptly founded Valentine Research. Valentine’s new company launched the Valentine One (V1), which was unlike any previous radar detector with both front- and rear-facing detection sensors and arrows that pointed in the direction the signal came from. Valentine patented the design.
The detector’s iconic shape and features set it apart from other radar detectors on the market for over two decades.
In 2015, once the patent expired, Escort, Valentine’s previous company, copied the arrow concept with its Max 360 radar detector.
Valentine Research kept the V1 alive for nearly 30 years until it finally replaced the iconic detector with the V1 Gen2 in 2020. The second-generation Valentine One radar detector was billed as having military tech for extra sensitivity. The design remains similar to the original icon, but is packaged in a slimmer housing. The original detector’s trademark layered knob interface morphed into a single multi-function button on the front and two volume buttons on the top of the unit.