The French Engine is one of the National Engines, champions representing their countries in the great race. Their costumes are bold, heavy and spectacular, and easy to identify as they race past.
Bochum[]
In 2018, the Bochum production underwent significant revisions for the show's 30th anniversary. This included altering Bobo to the feminine Coco, who is featured heavily in the advertising for the updates as a symbol of the production's efforts to address the gender imbalance in the show. The new character is modelled on famous French Designer and Nazi, Coco Chanel.
Coco's design features a French Flag mini-skirt, and printed on it "N 5", in reference to Coco Chanel's perfume "N°5". Her chest box includes the graphic "TGV". This gives her a look similar to the TGV Duplex. She is designated "The Underwater Train", the Eurostar, however there are no references in her costume to this. This train, in real life, travels between Britain, France, Netherlands and Belgium, and is not specifically a French entity. It travels through the Channel Tunnel, hence the reference to the "Underwater train". Coco's costume is predominantly blue, hailing back to the original design, and co-ordinating with the French Flag skirt.
Wig: Rather than a hat, Coco wears a black, bobbed wig, with the "N5" (Reference to the perfume Chanel N°5) stencilled onto the hair.
Makeup: Coco's makeup is less dramatic along with the rest of the characters in Bochum's 2018 update. The blue eyeshadow, and red lips however keep a subtler nod to her supposed nationality.