@amszmidt @screwtape I still use cadr, cdar, cddar, etc. frequently when writing ad-hoc code to grovel through data; those would be cumbersome (to say the least) if they needed to be compositions of first and rest. I have also used cdr-coded lists, not only for space savings but to be able to refer to array data as a list (c.f. g-l-p) and to (in separate circumstances) interpolate less structured traditional cons list structure in the middle of compactly stored lists.
Both these practices fall in the category of "infrequently applicable but very useful when they do apply". I find that this category as a whole seems to be diminishing. When I try to explain this category to colleagues (usually in conjunction with explaining why I did something the way I'd chosen), they usually say that they'd never remember that it would apply.