Joe,
Since you posted in November 2016 about Jack's tractor (69069) being the oldest you have seen made me think hard and eventually having to look in my book, it has taken me from December until now to find the photo's I knew I had somewhere. It was a good job I started the "family photo's" thread otherwise I may never of found these.
It was 1984 at the World Ploughing Championships here in Horncastle, a man was walking around my styled red 25 /40 and we got talking, it turned out he had a very original unstyled 25, we corresponded by letter a few times and I found out it was serial number 69019, and the oldest 25 I knew of at that time. In September 1987 he decided to sell his collection and dad and I took the trailer with the intention of buying this tractor, unfortunately we did not get the wining bid, as dad thought it was getting expensive!! and the buyer did not get the previous tractor he wanted in the sale so put all his eggs into the 25 basket, but it did cost him dearly on the day. This tractor has never seen the light of day since then, I know where it is and hope its still as well cared for as it was then.
Also back in the 1980's I heard of another unstyled 25/40 for sale in Yorkshire, it was advertised and also out at a rally I visited with a for sale sign on, it was serial number 69026 and another interesting aspect of this tractor for me, it was supplied new by Ward and Co of Horncastle, the dealer where dad's 12-20 came from, this 25 worked new on a farm just out of town and carried a similar registration number to the 12-20, from that farm it had been sold to the Spilsby area where it ended its working life in an abused state, it entered preservation from there and got up into Yorkshire, you can see from the photo's the yellow front wheels are non genuine, together with the home made exhaust elbow, hood and many other parts. I was tempted to buy it but at the time was uncertain where to get the correct wheel etc, I lost track of it from there and so far not seen it since.
So in conclusion it looks to me a batch of early production tractors was shipped to the UK and three of them survive to this day with Jack's family tractor seen out in public the most.
Below are photo's of 69019 and 69026 together with a shot of the old dealer premises of Ward and Co in Horncastle Lincolnshire, a building which is still standing today.
I know I have discussed these early serial numbers with Graham on the phone, this is the first time these late 1980 photo's have been shown.
Malcolm.