A vintage Rolls Royce, once owned by an acclaimed artist with Cullingworth connections, failed to meets its reserve price when it came under the hammer.

The 1927 Phantom 1 Torpedo Tourer, was expected to fetch up to £90,000 when it went to auction at Bonhams in Newport, Rhode Island, in the United States. But the top bid of £53,000, made by a mystery bidder, was not enough to meet the reserve price to clinch the sale.

The vehicle was used as a trials car by Sir Henry Royce, before Rolls Royce enthusiast Edward Wadsworth became its first post-factory owner in 1930.

Mr Wadsworth's grandfather Elymas and great-grandfather James were both from Cullingworth, and his grandmother Phoebe Bland was from Keighley.

The artist paid £2,700 for the car, which had four owners before it was shipped out to the United States after the Second World War. In 1988 it became the property of Ace Rosner, of Washington DC, a prominent car collector and aviator, before it passed to its current owner two years ago.

Mr Wadsworth, who was born in 1889, studied at the Bradford School of Art. During the First World War he served as an intelligence officer in the Navy.

He went on to produce works now owned by the Tate Gallery and British Museum.