A French Power Couple
Automotive and fashion collaborations are nothing new, but the partnership between Alpine and Lacoste feels particularly fitting. Both are iconic French brands with deep roots in performance and style. Alpine was founded by rally driver Jean Rédélé, building
a legacy on lightweight, agile sports cars. Lacoste was established by tennis legend René Lacoste, whose nickname on the court was "the Crocodile." This shared history of competitive spirit and French ingenuity forms the foundation for the one-off concept car, officially named the "Beware of the Crocodile - Alpine Lacoste A290 Rallye." The project was unveiled in late June 2026 and serves as a showpiece for both brands, merging high-performance motorsport engineering with a distinctive fashion-forward design.
Designing a Car With Bite
This special edition is based on the A290 Rallye, the most performance-focused version of Alpine's new electric hatchback, designed for customer racing. The design team took the "crocodile" theme and ran with it. The car is finished in a matte, bluish-white paint inspired by alpine landscapes, contrasted by aggressive, exposed forged carbon fibre elements. The standard headlights are replaced with body-colored panels featuring a single red LED slash, and the rally lights display dueling Alpine and Lacoste logos. The most audacious details are the crocodiles themselves: there are reportedly 290 of them hidden throughout the design. Three swim in a red resin pool on the hood, while a large, translucent crocodile appears to crawl onto the massive rear spoiler.
An Interior Straight from the Runway
If the exterior is a nod to the crocodile, the interior is designed to make you feel like you've stepped inside its mouth. The entire cabin is drenched in a shocking, immersive red, a direct reference to the tongue of the Lacoste crocodile. The seats and door panels are upholstered in the same petit piqué fabric used for Lacoste's iconic polo shirts. The embroidery was handled by Potencier, the historic workshop that produces the brand's crocodile logos. Advanced manufacturing techniques are also on display, with racing seats that feature lightweight, 3D-printed latticework structures for support and comfort. Dozens of crocodile patches of varying sizes are plastered across the dashboard, leaving no doubt about the car's inspiration.
Performance Underneath the Style
While this one-off vehicle is a design statement, it is built on a genuinely capable platform. The standard Alpine A290 is the brand's first all-electric model, based on the Renault 5 platform. The top-spec GTS version boasts up to 220 horsepower, capable of a 0-62 mph sprint in 6.4 seconds. The car is powered by a 52 kWh battery, providing a range of up to 236 miles. The A290 Rallye this concept is based on further enhances this with a rally-specific chassis, optimised suspension, a reinforced braking system, and a ZF limited-slip differential to handle the immediate torque of the electric motor. It's a serious piece of kit, designed for customer competition.
A One-Off with a Broader Mission
Unfortunately for those with a taste for the extreme, the "Beware of the Crocodile" A290 Rallye is a one-off concept and will not be for sale. Its purpose is to celebrate the collaboration between the two brands and to launch a co-branded capsule collection of apparel that merges the worlds of the racetrack and the tennis court. The project serves as a powerful marketing tool, showcasing Alpine's move into electrification while reinforcing Lacoste's ties to performance. For Alpine, it’s a way to reach a style-conscious audience beyond traditional car enthusiasts. For Lacoste, it connects its timeless sportswear with the cutting edge of electric automotive technology, creating a halo effect for both brands that is far more memorable than a simple logo swap.
