Hmm, never seen that before. Just confirming what Poodles said, there are 3 adjustments on the column. Tilt, telescoping, and release, the release lever is to move it out of the way to get in and out of the car, and upon moving the column back down it locks into the previous position, which is whatever is set via the tilt adjustment.
Just making sure you're not trying to use that lever, which I would assume you're not, since you said your 87 works fine. If it is indeed malfunctioning, I would take the covers off and see if it can be fixed. If not, you'll probably be in for a column swap.
Jeff