Last month, pregnant Naomi Watts sparked controversy by scootering around the mean streets of New York City on the back of a Vespa driven by baby-daddy Liev Schreiber.

But in Los Angeles, she has a shiny new car to drive around in, one that is both safer than a Vespa and has room for two car seats. The National Enquirer reports Liev bought Naomi a $50,000-plus Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC for her 40th birthday, and she’s thrilled.

The environmentally-friendly luxury SUV doesn’t hit the market until later this month, but Liev managed to score one weeks early — and had it delivered with a big red bow on the hood at a surprise bash he threw for his sweetie in L.A. Naomi, who is due to give birth to the couple’s second child in December, couldn’t contain her excitement and immediately took her new set of wheels for a spin around the block.

[From National Enquirer, print edition, October 27, 2008]

According to the Mercedes-Benz site, BlueTEC gets “the maximum power out of every single drop of diesel and so consumes significantly less fuel while conserving natural resources and actively preventing air pollution.”

Naomi came late to both fame and family, but now is doing great on both fronts. Her son Alexander turned one in July, her second child is due in December, and she’s said she still wants more kids.

She’s rumored to fill Tippi Hedren’s famous role in a remake of The Birds, with George Clooney as the male lead. Take this with a grain of salt, because Clooney is also rumored to play The Lone Ranger to Johnny Depp’s Tonto.

Naomi Watts is shown out with Leiv Schreiber on the back of his scooter on 10/15, walking with him on 10/23, and with their son, Alexander Pete, on 10/27. She is also shown out in NY on 11/4, where she took in a movie at the Angelika Film Center. Credit: Bauergriffinonline