Before starting after sitting for 8 months you want to pre-oil the engine to avoid damaging the engine. There are a couple posts touching on this.

The noise is the starter solenoid trying to bump the gear into the flywheel. Did you try jumping the car's battery? That noise is usually due to a low battery.

EDIT:
If the clacking continues with a good source of power, you can try banding on the starter with a hammer/rock/crowbar. Mine got stuck once in cold weather.

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