Lee Klancher

Lee Klancher is a photographer and writer who has contributed words and images to more than 30 books, as well as dozens of national magazines, including Men’s Journal, Draft,[2] and Motorcyclist.[3]

Klancher is best known for photography of collectible farm tractors that appears in his books and calendars. For The Art of John Deere,[4] he built a custom 20x40-foot studio to photograph 30 rare John Deere tractors.[5] His books Red Tractors 1958–2013 and Red Combines 1915–2015 chronicle the history of farm equipment with an emphasis on the engineering, design, and cultural influences that created them.

His books have won several awards, including Benjamin Franklin Awards for the Adventurous Motorcyclist’s Guide to Alaska, Red Tractors 1958–2013 , and Red Combines 1915–2015 .[6]

Klancher founded Octane Press—a niche publishing house that specializes in books and calendars about cars, farm machines, motorsports, and motorcycles—in his garage in the mid-2000s in Austin, Texas. The company has since grown, and it now produces 6–12 titles per year on average,[7] filing a transportation niche by creating and selling books that appeal to collectors, history and engineering buffs, and those who are nostalgic for machines of the past.[8]

Klancher has appeared on the Cars Yeah podcast and the Writers Cast podcast, where he talked about building a publishing company from the ground up.

His titles have been reviewed in major publications. He was interviewed by Jon Michaud in The New Yorker about the anthology The Devil Can Ride: The World's Best Motorcycle Writing.[9] His title, John Deere Evolution, was reviewed in The Wall Street Journal by Peter Saenger, who wrote that the "story involves a surprising amount of intrigue."[10]

Klancher has made several appearances on Jay Leno's Garage, a television series about motor vehicles hosted by Jay Leno. The first time he appeared on Jay Leno’s Garage in 2008 was with his title, Motorcycle Dream Garages. “I mailed a copy of the book to the garage to Jay’s attention,” says Klancher, “and he called me on a Saturday night. I nearly didn’t answer because his phone is blocked, and I assumed it was someone calling to market something.”[11] In one thirty-four minute episode, Jay Leno drove a 2017 Case IH Quadtrac down city streets, discussed the history of the machine, and showcased Klancher's book Red 4WD Tractors.

Klancher has been a regular contributor to several tractor-based podcasts and shows. He spoke about his career and shared tractor knowledge during interviews and appearances on In Ohio Country with Host Dan Wilson.[12] He has shared tractor knowledge and talked about his tractor-related titles on the show, This Week in Agribusiness, hosted by American radio broadcaster Max Armstrong,[13] and he has appeared several times on Classic Tractors TV.[14]

• Adventurous Motorcyclist's Guide to Alaska
• The Art of the John Deere Tractor
• The Farmall Dynasty
• Red 4WD Tractors: 1957–2017
• Red Combines: 1915–2015 ( second edition, Red Combines: 1915–2020)
• Red Tractors: 1958–2013 (second edition, Red Tractors: 1958–2018; third edition, Red Tractors: 1958–2022)
• John Deere Evolution
• Motorcycle Dream Garages
• How to Build Your Dream Garage
• Tractor in the Pasture
• TRACTOR: The Heartland Innovation, Ground-Breaking Machines, Midnight Schemes, Secret Garages, and Farmyard Geniuses that Mechanized Agriculture
• Victory Motorcycles: 1998–2017

• Marks, B. (2013, November). Rise of the machines: Tractors and the end of rural America. Collectors Weekly. Available: http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/tractors-and-the-end-of-rural-america
• Klancher, L. (2013). Red Tractors 1958-2013: The Authoritative Guide to International Harvester and Case IH Tractors. Octane Press. Available: https://www.octanepress.com/book/red-tractors
• Carlson, L. (2015, May). Fueling Success: What Makes Octane Press Proper. Independent Publisher. Available: https://www.ibpa-online.org/article/fueling-success-what-makes-octane-press-prosper/ Archived 2016-09-27 at the Wayback Machine