Meet the 'Beware of the Crocodile' Car
The vehicle at the center of this curious headline is a one-off version of the Alpine A290, an electric hot hatch from the famed French performance car company. Dubbed the 'Beware of the Crocodile – Alpine Lacoste A290 Rallye', this car is a special project
created in partnership with another iconic French brand: Lacoste. Forget a simple branding exercise; this is a complete design takeover. The car’s hood features a recessed, bright red 'pool' where three distinct crocodiles appear to be swimming. It’s a bold, graphic, and slightly aggressive piece of automotive art designed to turn heads and start conversations.
A Tale of Two French Icons
This collaboration is a meeting of two brands rooted in French performance and style. Alpine, founded by Jean Rédélé, is legendary in the world of rally racing and lightweight sports cars. Lacoste, founded by tennis superstar René Lacoste, revolutionized sportswear. The tennis star's nickname on the court was 'The Crocodile', a name that would become immortalized as the brand's world-famous logo. This project merges Alpine's motorsport engineering with Lacoste’s design DNA, celebrating a shared philosophy of precision, performance, and elegance.
Why So Many Crocodiles?
The design goes far beyond the three reptiles on the hood. In a playful nod to the car's model number, a total of 290 crocodiles are hidden throughout the vehicle's interior and exterior. The entire concept is an abstract tribute to the Lacoste logo. The exterior is painted in a subtle, textured bluish-white meant to evoke Alpine mountain snow, providing a stark contrast for the reptilian theme. But it's the interior where the concept truly commits. The entire cabin is drenched in a monochromatic bright red, designed to feel as if the driver is stepping directly into the crocodile's mouth. Even the seats and door panels are upholstered in Lacoste's signature petit piqué fabric, the same material used for its classic polo shirts.
More Than Just a Show Car
While it's a one-of-a-kind creation, the 'Beware of the Crocodile' car is built on a serious platform. The base vehicle is the A290 Rallye, Alpine's dedicated electric competition car. This means it retains its motorsport-focused engineering, including a rally-specific chassis, reinforced braking system, and widened tracks for stability. The design team even reinterpreted the car's light signatures to mimic a crocodile's gaze. Further details include a large translucent red crocodile head poking out where the rear window would be, and even a small fin on the roof resembling a croc’s scaly back.
