Concept cars are supposed to make us dream.

Unfortunately, today’s concept cars have relegated wild, boundary-pushing dream machines to safe previews of future production models. Alpine’s latest creation, however, is nothing like that.

Meet the 2026 Alpine Lacoste A290 Rallye “Beware of the Crocodile,” a gloriously over-the-top concept car created by Alpine Design Director Antony Villain, celebrating the historic connection between Alpine founder Jean Rédélé and René Lacoste, founder of the iconic French clothing brand.

Based on the Alpine A290 Rallye electric competition car, the collaboration fuses Lacoste’s distinct visual identity with Alpine’s motorsport engineering. The result transforms the A290’s purposeful design into something that looks equally at home attacking a rally stage or a tennis court.

The connection goes beyond simply adding the familiar Lacoste logo. The concept takes inspiration from the brand’s iconic crocodile mascot, with the reptile appearing all around the car in an intentionally excessive display of branding.

Just how excessive? Around 200 crocodiles are reportedly scattered throughout the car, from the exterior to details hidden inside the wheels and even the engine bay. Call it ridiculous, but it surely got your attention, and that’s exactly the point.

The A290 Rallye “Beware of the Crocodile” was conceived as a celebration of the shared French heritage of Alpine and Lacoste, while giving Alpine’s designers the freedom to explore an idea without the usual restrictions of a production vehicle.

The entire exterior design revolves around one iconic element, the red tongue of Lacoste’s crocodile logo. Instead of applying logos across the bodywork, designers transformed the crocodile into an architectural concept that influences color, lighting, and graphics.

The body retains the proportions of the A290 Rallye while introducing crocodile-inspired graphic treatments developed jointly by Alpine and Lacoste’s design teams.

The visually arresting red interior is where things get really interesting, as designers describe it as placing the driver “inside the crocodile’s mouth,” brought to life through an almost entirely monochromatic red environment.

Another highlight is the custom 3D-printed rally seats that use advanced manufacturing and lightweight lattice structures instead of conventional solid components, reducing weight while improving comfort and energy absorption.

The overall result is a world away from the increasingly common “concept cars” that are little more than thinly disguised previews of production models. Instead, Alpine has used the project as an opportunity to let its designers have some fun.

The concept made its public debut at the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille, where it finished second in the Concept Car category behind the Bugatti Brouillard. It later appeared at the Goodwood Revival, where its deliberately playful character proved just as difficult to ignore.

For Alpine, the A290 Rallye is less about previewing the next production model and more about celebrating creativity, French design and the brand’s motorsport heritage. And perhaps that is exactly what concept cars should be doing. To make us wonder what might be possible a decade from now.

While the Lacoste A290 probably won't be heading into Alpine dealerships anytime soon, but with roughly 200 crocodiles scattered all around it, that's hardly the point.